There are no signs that the scourge of vacant shops mouldering on Britain's high streets is about to go away, new figures have revealed.
According to The Local Data Company, the percentage of empty shops in high streets stabilised last year at 14.3% but jumped to 14.6% in February - representing the highest number of vacancies in four years. Now, LDC's latest research shows that at the end of June the figure was unchanged.

A marked north/south divide remains in the fortunes of high streets. The most affected region is the north-west of England, with a vacancy rate of 20.1%. This is followed by Wales, the Midlands and the north, with an average 18.5% vacancy.

In fact, all regions have seen an increase in the number of shop vacancies over the past year with the exception of London, where the figure fell from 10.7% to 10.1%.

Nottingham was the worst of the big centres, with over 30% of its sites empty, but, bucking the north/south trend, Margate showed the highest vacancy rate of 36.5%.

LDC director Matthew Hopkinson said key economic and structural issues were impacting town centres up and down the country.

"These issues still have some way to go before we see wide stability and positive change. Most importantly it shows that at the town level a widening gap in health exists between town centres, depending on their location, offer and consumer profile."

Commenting on the new figures, British Property Federation chief executive Liz Peace said: "Our towns face complex structural problems which are not going to be solved by tinkering around the edges. In many places, we need to have a complete re-think about how vacant property could be redeveloped into new uses.

"This will be challenging and there will inevitably be some further business casualties, but the alternative is a period of steady, inexorable and irreversible decline with unacceptable social consequences."