Visits to Britain’s shops plunged by record 85% in April

Visits to Britain’s shops plunged by a record 85 per cent last month. 

High Streets saw footfall drop by 81.8 per cent compared with April 2019, data from the British Retail Consortium showed. 

Just a few stores, such as local supermarkets, were allowed to remain open. 

But there was even worse news for shopping centres, where social distancing is harder to enforce, as the number of visitors slumped 87.8 per cent.

Retail parks, which tend to include larger supermarkets and pet shops, were the least affected although still down by 62.4 per cent. 

As lockdown restrictions eased last week, data suggested Britons tentatively ventured out. 

The total number of shoppers rose 3.3 per cent from the week before. Retailers in coastal and historic towns reported an 8.7 per cent and 3.8 per cent respective rise in shoppers.