Shoppers stayed away from the high street after Boris Johnson announced “Plan B” restrictions to tackle omicron in a blow to retail and hospitality companies at their busiest time of year.

Visits to stores across Britain fell last week as the public were warned that the new Covid variant is highly contagious and urged to work from home, according to data from Springboard.

Meanwhile Dyson became the latest company to tell some staff they should continue coming to the office amid a growing business backlash against the new restrictions.

Shopper numbers were down 1.1pc in the week to Dec 11 compared with the previous seven days, according to Springboard, driven by a 2.7pc drop in visits to high street shops. 

Footfall was particularly subdued on Saturday – typically a peak trading day ahead of Christmas – with a 1.2pc drop in numbers.

Diane Wehrle, of Springboard, said: “The hoped pre-Christmas boost in trading did not materialise… Footfall did rise in retail parks and shopping centres, but only by a marginal amount, which wasn’t enough to deliver an uplift overall.” 

Footfall was down 18pc last week compared to 2019 levels, but it was 18pc above last year when Covid cases were also surging. 

The biggest drop of 5.7pc was in coastal towns, partly due to the cold weather, followed by shops in central and outer London, down by 5.3pc and 5.2pc respectively.  

Businesses are likely to fear a further fall in the short term. The data covers the period after Plan B rules were announced but before the new advice to work from home where possible took effect on Monday.