Christmas footfall declined 0.9% week-on-week in the seven days to December 14 and was down 5% year-on-year, according to Springboard.

This decline is a sharp contrast to the same week the previous year when footfall rose 3.4% week-on-week and was broadly flat year-on-year.

Springboard’s insights director Diane Wehrle said: “We are not surprised that footfall has not increased over the last week, as it follows a Black Friday success that confounded expectations.”