Retailers claim wet weather has cut consumer spending on the high street

Retailers in Perth have claimed that Scotland's bleak mid-summer is having a definite negative effect on consumer spending on the high street.

Unseasonal rain combined with the nation's economic woes has led to a drop in profits.

Severe weather warnings have been issued across Central Scotland, Tayside and Fife and the forecast is not expected to get better.

McEwens of Perth, the city's largest employer, has reported that sales are down by between 5% and 10%.

This department store has been in Perth since 1868.

Managing director John Bullough said: "We've been affected very badly by the weather. Perth, like every other city centre is in crisis and the weather is one of the major issues."

He anticipates that the start of 2013 will also be difficult.

"It is a very tricky retail market across the board and I don't there is anyone who has not been affected.

"The weather has made life hugely difficult."

Another retailer in the city Campus Sports also said it was finding it tough and had been affected by the weather.

Away from the shops Scotland's farmers are worried about how the summer deluge and the sodden ground will effect crops like cereals.

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