EU vote hits UK high street

The number of shoppers heading to British high streets and retail centres fell at the fastest pace in more than two years in June, with the weeks around the country’s vote to leave the EU hit particularly hard, a survey has found.

Retail footfall across Britain was 2.8% lower than a year earlier in the five weeks from May 29 to July 2.

This was the sharpest decline since February 2014 and down from a 0.3% increase in May, a survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) showed yesterday.