Latest figures show huge year-on-year drop in capital
Shopper numbers in London's congestion zone in August were down 16.7 per cent year on year, compared to a fall of just 0.7 per cent for the UK as a whole.

SPSL director of knowledge management Dr Tim Denison said the latest Retail Traffic Index figures are 'even more dramatic than the poor London sales figures reported by the London Retail Consortium earlier in the week'.

Denison said: 'Despite some claims that tourist numbers to London have not fallen off significantly since July 7, we attribute a good measure of the drop in retail traffic to cautious tourists. If they're coming, they're not shopping; certainly not in the volumes we're used to seeing.'

Early figures for September are no better. Footfall was down 17.8 per cent year on year for the week commencing September 4, despite the Everyone's London promotion - a series of special events designed to encourage people back into central London.

'We should also acknowledge the effects of the economic downturn, soaring fuel prices, the 60 per cent increase in the congestion charge, the strong showing of August last year, rising inflation, the closure of some flagship stores in central London and the compulsive viewing of the Ashes series,' cautioned Denison.

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