The number of empty shops in Britain remained stable in June - and at its lowest level since June 2010.
The shop vacancy rate stood at 13.4% in June, according to the latest research by The Local Data Company (LDC), while the figure for retail and leisure premises combined also remained level, at 11.9%.

Matthew Hopkinson, LDC director, commented: "Steady as she goes is the current position across Great Britain's town centres, with the vacancy rate remaining stable and at its lowest level since mid 2010.

"Retail sales appear to be positive, but not everywhere, and there is increasing competition amongst the large multiples, be they the discounters, supermarkets or indeed food and beverage outlets."

Recent LDC analysis for the BBC Radio 4 You & Yours programme on the first 12 Portas Pilots shows that vacancy performance is varied, with nine out of the 12 showing a decrease in the number of empty shops and three showing an increase.

"This is typical of all locations, where performance by geographical location and type of town varies enormously, and this will be seen when we present the H1 2014 vacancy numbers at our tenth Retail Summit on September 16," said Mr Hopkinson.