Gardens centre chain Blooms of Bressingham blamed a cold spring for driving like-for-like sales 1.9 per cent lower yesterday.

The group, which operates ten sites in central and southern England, said the impact of recent unseasonal weather was unlikely to be fully recovered during the rest of the year as the spring selling season was now over.

Shares slipped lower, even though Blooms said it was confident that autumn and Christmas ranges would perform well.

It also pointed out the like-for-like sales downturn for the 22 weeks to July 2 only related to four sites, as four of its locations had been the subject of redevelopment and refurbishment and two were not in the group last year.

Blooms has sites at Bressingham in Norfolk, Bicester in Oxfordshire, Swindon, Rugby, Cheltenham, Cardiff, Solihull and Haresfield, Gloucester.

As a result of the new developments, total sales increased by 16.6 per cent with Blooms particularly pleased with the performance of sites at Cheltenham and Cardiff since their refurbishments in the spring.

Seymour Pierce analyst Rhys Williams said: "Overall, a slightly disappointing like-for-like number is being offset by the growth of total sales through the redevelopment of key centres and acquisitions.

"Blooms remains a quality play in the garden centre sector, and with bid activity picking up - namely Tom Hunter's acquisition of Wyevale and his stake building in Dobbies - we believe that Blooms will be involved."