UK car registrations return to growth in August - SMMT

LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) - British car sales rose by 3.3 percent in August compared with the same month last year, recovering from a flat performance in July shortly after Britons voted to leave the European Union in June.

Dealers registered 81,640 vehicles, driven by fleet sales while private registrations fell slightly by 0.2 percent, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said.

In the first eight months of the year, registrations were up by 2.8 percent at 1.68 million units.

Britain's consumers appear to have largely taken the Brexit vote in their stride, according to a range of recent indicators. The Bank of England and many economists expect a rise in inflation and uncertainty about Britain's trade ties with the EU to weigh on the economy going forward. (Reporting by William Schomberg, editing by David Milliken)