Shopping visits fall as Middle East conflict takes toll on consumer confidence

The British Retail Consortium said April was ‘a weak month for footfall’ (Jacob King/PA) - (PA Wire)

Consumers are making fewer visits to the shops as the ongoing Middle East conflict drags down confidence, figures suggest.

Over March and April – to cancel out any distortion from this year’s earlier Easter – total footfall across the UK was down 3.9% on the same period last year, according to the British Retail Consortium-Sensormatic data.