April 24 (Reuters) - British retail sales fell by the most on record in March as a surge in food buying for the coronavirus lockdown was dwarfed by a plunge in sales of clothing and most other goods, and the slump is likely to be even worse in April, Reuters reported. Official figures showed sales volumes plunged by 5.1% in March from February, the sharpest drop since the Office for National Statistics' records began in 1996. It was also a bigger fall than the median forecast for a drop of 4.0% in a Reuters poll of economists. The March 1-April 4 data covered only two weeks of the government's shutdown of much of the economy. Britain's economy could he heading into its deepest recession in more than 300 years, according to budget forecasters, even after the finance ministry and the Bank of England rushed out a string of emergency stimulus measures. Britain's store-based retailers, outside of food, have been severely hit by the lockdown to counter the pandemic of coronavirus.
