by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Credit crunch and recession were nowhere to be seen on the escalators of John Lewis as the retailer enjoyed a 16 per cent seasonal sales hike.

But its boss has warned that economic recovery will be long and slow.

In its Christmas trading statement covering five weeks to January 2, the department store chain, which includes Bluewater, said total sales were 15.8 per cent higher than the same time a year ago, with like-for-like sales up 12.7 per cent.

They were also well up on the same period two years ago - before the economic downturn - with respective increases of 16.4 per cent and 10.4 per cent.

Taking the impact of the new John Lewis Foodhall into account - it was only opened in August - Bluewater sales rose by nearly 22 per cent on the same five-week period a year ago. Sales without the foodhall were up 14.38 per cent.

Across the chain, fashion sales, including beauty, rose by 22 per cent, with home products up 19.6 per cent, and electrical goods and home technology - principally televisions and computers - up 11.4 per cent.

Andy Street, managing director of John Lewis and the former boss of the Bluewater store, said sales had been excellent. "The five-week period has seen a number of records broken. Sales surpassed the £100m milestone on four separate weeks (the most recent being week ending January 2), and we beat our previous biggest ever week from 2007 in early December."

But Mr Street repeated his warning just before Christmas that it would be wrong to expect the Christmas sales surge to be maintained. He said: "As the year progresses we expect to see a long slow recovery, with the retailers who continue to focus on giving customers what they want prospering."

Waitrose, the John Lewis Partnership sister food business, also enjoyed soaring sales, up 20.8 per cent on last year's figures for the week ending on Boxing Day. Sales over the 13-week period ending December 26 were up by 16.1 per cent.

John Lewis operates 29 shops across the UK and 222 Waitrose supermarkets. The business has an annual turnover of £6.9bn and employs 69,000 people, all so-called partners who can look forward to a rewarding profits share later in the year.