Strong demand for hot-weather items such as refrigeration products and fans was reported by department store group John Lewis on the first day of its clearance sale.

Sales figures for the week to June 27 included the start of the group's summer sale, which kicked off on Saturday as the current heatwave began.

The group added that special purchase packages brought in for its sales also produced increases in audio, vision and IT products.

Electricals and home technology saw sales dip in total for the week by just 0.1 per cent, while sales across the group as a whole fell 3.7 per cent, with the biggest falls coming in home products at -8.4 per cent.

Although sales at most stores were down on a year ago, the Norwich and Newcastle outlets notched up increases of 1.7 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively for the week. This was thanks to strong performances on the first day of the clearance sale when Newcastle increased its take by eleven per cent and Norwich by two per cent.

Other stores that did better on day one of the sales compared with a year ago were Solihull (at plus four per cent) and Kingston (at plus two per cent) while John Lewis on Oxford Street remained level.

Best performance for the week, however, was notched up by the online business, johnlewis.com, which saw sales up by 21.7 per cent.

This week, John Lewis was awarded top place for customer service by the UK Customer Satisfaction Index.

The store group scored 90.9 per cent among 25,000 adults surveyed online.

This is the first time an organisation had breached the 90 per cent barrier in the index, which was developed by the Institute of Customer Service.

Sister company supermarket chain Waitrose came in third place.

"It is really rewarding to hear such positive feedback when our customers are polled about the service they receive," said John Lewis managing director Andy Street.

"We are making every effort to constantly improve the customer experience in our branches and will keep our focus on delivering inspiring products, great value and differentiated service."