london dec 6 reuters  british consumer spending ticked up last month at a rate that greatly lagged behind inflation according to surveys on tuesday that underscored the pressure on household budgets ahead of the christmas holidays barclaycard said spending on its credit and debit cards rose 39 yearonyear in november far behind the annual 111 increase in consumer prices in october that was the highest reading in 41 years some 94 of britons surveyed by barclaycard said they were concerned about the impact of soaring household energy bills on their personal finances cutbacks are affecting nonessential spending on clothing department stores and restaurants many brits intend to reduce festive spending on presents and parties in an effort to save money said esme harwood director at barclaycard separate data from the british retail consortium brc covering spending in shops only showed a 42 annual increase in sales after a 16 increase in october driven by expenditure on food sales picked up as black friday discounting marked the beginning of the festive shopping season however sales growth remained far below current inflation suggesting volumes continued to be down on last year said brc chief executive helen dickinson last month tesco tscol britains biggest supermarket group said britains worsening costofliving crunch has led to a sharp rise in the number of shoppers looking for reduced to clear food