Sports retailer Foot Locker has set a record rent on Oxford Street in a further example of the surging demand for space on the street.

Foot Locker has snapped up the Esprit store on the famous shoping street and will pay a Zone A rent of £800 per sq ft, according to The Times. That means Foot Locker will be paying rent of £1.3m a year.

The deal eclipses the record rent set on the street last year by footwear retailer Aldo, which agreed to pay a Zone A rent of £725 per sq ft.

Demand for space remains strong in London’s West End, particularly Oxford Street, despite rising vacancy rates across many parts of the UK.

Property agent Harper Dennis Hobbs acted for Esprit. Savills acted for landlord Prudential.