There are fresh calls today for buses to be banned from Oxford Street. This comes as retailers in London's West End have reported a surge in Christmas shoppers over the weekend.
There are fresh calls today for buses to be banned from Oxford Street.
Hundreds of them travel down the busy shoping road every hour - one high street retailer claims the so-called "Wall of Red' is bad for business.
The strong figures come as West End retailers and hoteliers voted to continue receiving the support of New West End Company, the management and promotional company for London’s West End on 14 December, guaranteeing the area a £25million boost over the next five years.
With footfall and sales progressively building as Christmas approaches, the next two weeks are key for retailers. Footfall in the West End for 8 and 9 December was up 16 per cent year-on-year.
John Lewis reported record sales last week and Fortnum and Mason reported a record 8 December.
Having built solidly since November, figures released today show November footfall in London’s West End was up 5.5 per cent year-on-year.
This means the area is consistently outperforming high streets and shopping centres nationally, which saw an average footfall rise of 0.2 per cent, according to Springboard’s UK High Street Index.
Retailers across London’s West End also reported a rise in sales for November, up 2.3 per cent on the same month last year, above national sales which were up 0.4 per cent, according to the BRC UK Retail Sales Monitor.
Retailers in London's West End have reported a surge in Christmas shoppers over the weekend.
Sales are expected to top £200 million after a 17 per cent rise in the number of people out shopping on Saturday, compared with the same day last year.