Footfall in August was down 1.1% compared to the same month last year despite the best sales growth since January, according to new figures. 

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) Springboard Footfall Monitor said the high street was the worst performing area with footfall down 2.8% on the previous year – the worst decline since February.

Footfall in shopping centres was down 1.1% on the previous year.

All regions and countries with the exception of South East (1.2%), East Midlands (0.5%), Northern Ireland (4.2%) and Scotland (1.8%) reported declining footfall.

Helen Dickinson, BRC director general, said: “Footfall might be down slightly this month but retail sales performed well in August. Taking account of the impact of online shopping we see that customers are spending more per trip than in recent months.”

Diane Wehrle, retail insights director at Springboard, said: “The drop in footfall in August in high streets and shopping centres – which has occurred in all but one month this year – underlines further that it is these locations that are vulnerable to the adverse effect of change that is occurring across our retail landscape as a consequence of online shopping.”