HIGH street shops have closed at a rate of about 14 a day in the first half of 2018, according to a new report.

Retailers are battling the worst trading conditions for five years, with internet shopping continuing to grow and business rates blamed for the challenging climate.

The rise of ‘in-home leisure’, with people preferring to spend their free time at home to entertain there, rather than going out, is also suspected of taking a bite out of earnings.

Stores including Debenhams, House of Fraser, Homebase, Poundworld, Maplin are among several to have been hit particularly badly by the change as more people shop online.

The problems have prompted Ministers being urged to take action to help beleaguered town centres across the country, with experts warning the turmoil is ‘unlikely to abate’.

The Government said the recent Budget has ‘high streets at its heart’.

A study of 500 high streets by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC,) and the Local Date Company found 2,692 stores had vanished in the first six months of this year - roughly 14 per day.

The rate is similar to the same period in 2017, although openings were down a third year-on-year.

Compared to 2,342 shops opening in the first six months of last year, there were 1,569 openings between January 1 and June 30.

Lisa Hooker, consumer markets leader at PwC said: “The high street is adapting to an overcapacity in retail and leisure space resulting from these channel shifts. Openings simply aren’t replacing the closures at a fast enough rate.

“The openings across ‘experiential’ chains, such as ice cream parlours, beauty salons and vape shops, haven’t been enough to offset closures in the more traditional categories.

“Looking ahead, the turmoil facing the sector is unlikely to abate.

“Store closures already announced in the second half of the year due to administrations and CVAs already will further intensify the situation.”

High streets minister Jake Berry said: “We have created a £675 million fund to help high streets adapt, slashed business rates by a third for the majority of smaller businesses, and are creating a task force guided by Sir John Timpson, one of the UK’s most experienced retailers, to ensure high streets are adapting for rapid change and are fit for the future.”

Reacting to the figures, an Allerdale Borough Council spokeswoman said: “Allerdale has seven diverse town centres and it is one of the council’s key priorities to encourage thriving and vibrant towns.

“Our town centre managers work closely with and support businesses, plus local events and markets to ensure all our towns are attractive and sustainable.

“Workington has developed steadily over the past few years and has close to 100 per cent occupancy in its town centre, with a good range of shops and average footfall of 100,000 people per week.”

In the North West, there were 134 store openings, and 192 store closures between January and June this year.

Commenting on the figures, Rob Johnston, chief executive of Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, said: “There are several reasons why the high street is struggling.

“The chief one is business rates, an unjust tax on property that takes no account of whether a business is profitable and able to pay.

“The business rates payable on House of Fraser’s store in Carlisle, for example, are more than £250,000 a year.

“Competition from online retailers makes it difficult for high street shops to pass on higher costs caused by the weak pound, that was a factor cited by the furniture retailer Dickinsons when it pulled out of Carlisle last year.

“Online takes 20 per cent of all retail spend now and the proportion is growing.

“And high street retailers are having to contend with rising employment costs including higher auto-enrolment pension contributions and above-inflation increases in the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage.

“Town and city centres will have to adapt, becoming leisure destinations for people choose to spend free time on a range of activities, one of which is shopping.

“The Government has announced money in the Budget to help local authorities regenerate town centres, as well as consulting on changes to planning rules to make it easier to obtain ‘change of use’ when a landlord struggles to find a retail tenant.”