Sales volumes fell by 0.9%, more than the 0.8% forecast by economists.

It comes after the surprise 1.4% rise in November when Black Friday discounting lured shoppers.

The British Retail Consortium has said retail sales were flat in December after the worst Christmas in a decade.

Rhian Murphy, head of retail sales at the ONS, said: "Following the increased growth in November, where shoppers snapped up more Black Friday offers as they continue to bring forward their Christmas shopping, retail sales weakened in December".

It is the biggest monthly drop since May 2017, and the December fall meant that retail sales were down 0.2% in the fourth quarter of the year - the largest three-month fall since March.

"Retail sales fell back slightly in the last three months of 2018 with only petrol stations seeing significant growth," Ms Murphy said.

All sectors except food stores and fuel stores saw sales decline in December, the ONS said.

A number of retailers - such as Halfords, Marks and Spencer, Debenhams and Mothercare - have reported a fall in sales over the Christmas period.

Economists were cautious about the prospects of a pick-up in spending at the start of the year, unless a deal over Brexit can be clinched.

Thomas Pugh, UK economist at Capital Economics, said: "Unless a Brexit deal is signed soon, there is unlikely to be much of a rebound in [the first three months of] 2019.

"That said, if a no-deal Brexit is avoided, consumers should be in a good position to ramp up spending in the second half of the year."