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LONDON - British consumer morale rose in March to its highest level in nine months as people became less worried about the job market and more willing to splash out on big-ticket items like houses and cars, a survey by lender Nationwide showed on Thursday.

The figures tally with the biggest rise in retail sales in more than a year in March, but are odds with data released on Wednesday, which showed Britain's economy has fallen back into recession in the first three months of 2012.

Nationwide's headline consumer confidence index climbed to 53 from 44 in February, though it remained 23 points below its long-run average.

"Much of the survey-based data has painted a more upbeat picture of the UK economy than official data in recent months - March's Consumer Confidence index continues that trend," said Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist.

The rise was broad-based, with consumers becoming more upbeat about both the current and future economic situation, the availability of jobs and their future employment situation.

"It may be that the general decline in inflation from the recent highs of 5.2 percent last September to 3.5 percent in March has helped to support spending power and therefore lift consumers' spirits over the past six months," Gardner said.

"But with the economy expected to gather pace only slowly, the improvement in confidence may prove short-lived," he said.

A recent GfK NOP survey found consumer confidence unexpectedly fell to a three-month low in March as Britons grew increasingly worried about the outlook for their finances and for the economy as a whole.

The Nationwide survey of 1,000 people was conducted between Feb 20 and March 25.