UK shoppers are forecast to spend nearly 30 per cent more in the week before Christmas than last year, but the spending may be too late for many retailers.

Shoppers are set to splash out£11.85 billion in the week before Christmas, which is about£2.7 billion more than they expected to spend this time last year, according to TNS.

The number of people visiting the high street rose 3.8 per cent on Saturday, climbing to nearly 9 per cent on Sunday, according to traffic monitor FootFall.

However, FootFall said the Christmas rush was two weeks late and was largely driven by widespread heavy discounting and Sales.

FootFall spokesman Martin Davies said: “While the increase in footfall over the weekend will be a relief to retailers, shoppers had a lot of catching up to do and it is unlikely that the weekend’s activity will come close to making up for the slump of previous weeks.

“With shopper numbers surging to nearly 9 per cent above 2006 levels on Sunday, it is worth remembering that much of the spend will have been on discounted items, which is not necessarily good news for end-of-year retail profits."

Retailers including French Connection, Laura Ashley, Morgan and Faith have launched Sales with discounts of 50 per cent or more this month.

According to accountancy firm BDO Stoy Hayward, nearly 1,400 retail businesses are expected to go bust next year – a 7 per cent increase on 2007.

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