Lower temperatures benefit town centres
UK shopper numbers fell last week, following an initial rush at the beginning of the school holidays, according to retail data company FootFall.

From August 7 to August 13, footfall was down 2.8 per cent on the previous week.

Shopper levels were up 1 per cent on the same week last year. However, this is against weak comparatives, because the Ashes cricket series kept people away from the shops this time last year.

Town centre locations, which lagged behind out-of-town retailers in July's heatwave, closed the gap in the first half of August when temperatures began to fall.

FootFall spokeswoman Natasha Burton said: 'Increases in fuel prices, the rise of interest rates and last week's security threat failed to significantly dent consumer confidence and we would expect to see an increase in footfall levels over the next two weeks, if 2006 continues to follow the annual trends established in recent years.'

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