Christmas Eve footfall up at retail parks but figures still down 30% on last year

Footfall across UK shops increased by 5% on Christmas Eve compared with the week before, driven by grocery shopping, figures show.

Sunday’s surge in footfall was attributed to consumers favouring retail parks and shopping centres to buy last-minute gifts and household items before some supermarkets closed on Christmas Day and have reduced hours on Boxing Day.

Footfall at retail parks increased by 20.9% compared with last week and was up 16.8%…