The 50 best and worst shopping areas in the UK revealed – where does YOU local high street rank?

BRITS shopping on Shields Road in Byker, Newcastle-upon-Tyne are facing disappointment as the location has just been named one of the worst places to shop across the UK, according to a national ranking of retail centre.

Property advisors Harper Dennis Hobbs (HDH) looked at the quality of 1,000 shopping districts across Britain ranging from local high street to regional shopping malls to see how well the stores suited the needs of local shoppers.

It also assessed shop vacancy rate, and the number of “undesirable” shops like pawnbrokers, money lenders, and bookmakers.

It found that the least vibrant centre is Shields Road in Byker, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where 19.6 per cent of retail floorspace is unused – up 11 per cent in the past five years.

The retail mix on the high street is also dominated by betting shops and money lenders, HDH found.

Harrow Road in London ranked just one place higher in 999th spot for the same reason with nearly 80 per cent of the street’s retailer classified as “undesirable”.

Stretford in Greater Manchester, Birmingham’s Selly Oak and Glasgow’s Shettleston Road also scored badly on the list.

Many of the bottom 50 shopping centres represented Britain's poorest areas, according to HDH.

On the other side of the ranking, Cambridge moved six places higher and was rated the UK's most vibrant retail centre.

But London still dominated the national retail scene with 34 per cent of the top 50 most vital centres are located in the capital. Westfield and Knightsbridge ranked second and third on the list respectively.

Luxury shopping destinations like Knightsbridge, Chelsea and Sloane Street effectively meet the demands of the highly affluent local residents, while these areas also cater to the tourists staying in the many luxury hotels in the area, the data found.

The research revealed that quality retailers are increasingly gravitating towards a few very strong shopping centres and high streets at the expense of the typical London high streets and smaller shops.

In the past five years, there had been a 2.7 per cent increase in the proportion of so-called "value" stores , including charity shops, across the UK. The propottion of “undesirable” shops also rose by 1.6 per cent during that period.

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