Sales plummet in woeful summer trading
Like-for-like retail sales in central London plunged 11.5 per cent last month compared with August last year, as terrorism concerns, the new football season, sunny weekends and the amazing Ashes series hit hard.

The fall was the worst since the London Retail Sales Monitor began in October 2002, said the London Retail Consortium.

The average monthly change this year has been a 2 per cent decrease, against a 3.9 per cent increase for the same months last year. The three-month growth rate in August fell to -5.9 per cent, from -0.4 per cent in July.

London Retail Consortium director Kevin Hawkins said: 'These figures give the lie to any suggestion that the effects of the terrorist incidents in July have largely worn off. Unless and until the missing customers can be persuaded or incentivised to return, central London retailers will continue to struggle.'

KPMG head of retail Helen Dickinson, said: 'A like-for-like fall of 11.5 per cent is a dismal result for central London. Even more surprising is that it is worse than the July figure - which was affected by the terror attacks - despite the perception that footfall in the centre of London was slowly picking up.'

Trade worsened overall in August, with large stores in the main shopping areas particularly hard hit. Footfall was down as overseas tourists, UK visitors and day trippers remained wary of shopping in the capital.

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