The number of empty shops in the UK has continued to fall but remains higher than pre-pandemic levels amid fears that falling consumer confidence will test the fragile recovery.

The overall vacancy rate across Britain fell to 14% in the third quarter, 0.1 percentage points better than the previous quarter and 0.6 percentage points better than the same period last year, the British Retail Consortium and Local Data Company reported.

It is the fourth consecutive quarter of falling vacancy rates. Shopping centre vacancies fell to 18.8%, down from 18.9% in the second quarter, while high street vacancies decreased to 13.9% from 14%.