Retailers hoping for a recovery over Christmas have been left disappointed, according to figures on sales and footfall.
Both categories saw a brief boost at the beginning of December, following the end of November's restrictions, but this quickly fell away under the force of tougher COVID tier rules.
The BRC-ShopperTrak footfall monitor showed a 46.1% slump in footfall across UK shopping destinations during December, compared with the same month in 2019.
High street stores saw a 49.5% drop, shopping centres were down 47.3% and retail parks fell by 17.3%.
Coronavirus restrictions have kept non-essential retail closed for a large portion of the last year in an effort to limit the spread of the disease.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said: "After an encouraging start to the month, Christmas shopper numbers dwindled as December progressed, due in large part to the creation of Tier 4 in England and increased restrictions elsewhere in the UK.
"London, the South East and Wales were hardest hit, with footfall dropping by over four-fifths in the final week.
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