High streets in smaller towns feel benefit as shoppers and workers stay away from major urban areas
The busy streets of central London are normally no place for the faint-hearted in the run-up to Christmas. Shoppers jostle with increasing urgency to secure last-minute gifts while revellers spill out from bars and restaurants to celebrate their final days in the office.
But this is far from a normal Christmas. Shoppers and tourists have stayed away from the capital in large numbers, data – and haunting pictures – reveal.
