Coastal towns saw the biggest rise in shoppers on Good Friday compared to all other types of retail areas, the latest Springboard figures reveal.

The data shows that the number of people visiting shops in coastal towns increased by 33.6pc last Friday compared to the week before. Overall, footfall to all retail areas rose by 5.8pc on the bank holiday Friday.

The analytics company, which tracks the UK's retail footfall each week, found that the number of people visiting high streets also rose, seeing an increase of 10pc and large city centres, excluding London, saw a rise of 14.5pc.

Although Saturday continued to see a week-on-week increase in shoppers, it was just a 0.2pc rise.

Eastern Daily Press: Paul McCarthy, general manager at Chantry PlacePaul McCarthy, general manager at Chantry Place (Image: Chantry Place)

Monday, however, saw a fall in the numbers of people visiting shops by 8.6pc compared to the previous week.

Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard, said: “Two factors heavily influenced footfall activity in UK retail destinations over Easter this year; the first factor was the warm and sunny weather, and the second factor was that this the first Easter bank holiday weekend since 2019 with no Covid restrictions.

"The fact that this Easter was the first since 2019 with no restrictions was likely a factor in people making trips to retail destinations in advance of Easter, rather than on the weekend itself. Over the period from Monday to Thursday leading up to Easter footfall rose from the week before by an average of 15pc with a rise of 21.9pc on Thursday and 27.3pc in UK high streets."

Despite shopping centres across the UK seeing a week-on-week fall of 6.1pc over the Easter weekend, Chantry Place in Norwich city centre reported a good turnout.

Paul McCarthy, general manager at Chantry Place, said: “We were heartened by a successful Easter this year, with very encouraging footfall across all days of the holiday.

"Our retailers and catering outlets have also been feeding back very positive sentiments in terms of sales. Looking at the bigger picture, we are seeing footfall continuing to head back towards pre-pandemic levels, which is very good news.”