Shoppers are shunning out-of-town centres as the poor economic climate continues to affect consumers.

This was the conclusion of a report published by Experian last week. Its retail footfall index revealed that visits to out-of-town retail destinations fell 3.1 per cent in the year to September, compared with the same period the previous year. This was despite an unexpected year-on-year rise of 0.5 per cent for retail overall.

The report said one reason why shoppers are avoiding longer journeys to out-of-town sites is because of the cost of petrol, which has risen steadily this year.

The retail warehousing sector has been particularly hard hit by the wider economy, with footfall falling 7.9 per cent. Experian director of property consultancy Jonathan de Mello said this is a result of shoppers’ reluctance to buy big-ticket items or spend money on home improvements. “We’ve seen profit warnings and administrations from the likes of MFI and retail parks are very exposed,” he said.

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