World Cup will give further boost
Shopper numbers at the weekend increased by almost 1 per cent compared with the bank holiday last year, according to FootFall.

Numbers were up significantly on Sunday and Monday, 5.2 per cent and 7 per cent respectively. However, footfall was down 4.2 per cent on Saturday, probably because of people taking advantage of the best of the weekend's weather and making the most of the outdoors.

FootFall spokeswoman Natasha Burton said: 'Although the number of shoppers only increased by 1 per cent over the weekend, we've previously seen a decline in the number of shoppers of 4 per cent to 5 per cent across key shopping periods so far in 2006. With the World Cup likely to provide more good news for retailers the May bank holiday weekend may represent the turning point for UK retail in 2006 and open the way for more positive times ahead.'