The number of shuttered shops has fallen for the first time since 2018, according to the British Retail Consortium.

The industry body said high street vacancy rates dipped to 14.4% between October and December, from the 14.5% it has stayed at since spring 2021. BRC boss Helen Dickinson said the marginal drop “offered the first glimmer of hope” for Britain’s beleaguered shopping destinations.

However, vacancy levels are still far higher than before the pandemic, when 12% of shops were vacant.

London has the lowest proportion of empty shops, with a vacancy rate of 11%. By contrast, in the North East of England one in five shops is unoccupied. Of all the regions, the North East was the only one where the vacancy rate rose between the third and fourth quarters of 2021.

Shopping centres continue to suffer, with 19.1% of stores unoccupied. Although this is down from the 19.4% reached last summer, it is far higher than the 14% empty two years ago. Retail parks fared better, with an average vacancy rate of 11.3%.