Northern Ireland saw the biggest drop in footfall across whole UK over December

Peter Moor spent the afternoon in Strabane, Co Tyrone to see how it fared over the festive period.

Northern Ireland experienced the largest drop in retail activity before Christmas across the whole United Kingdom, according to new figures.

Footfall here dropped by 5.8% in December when compared with last year's festive period, the British Retail Consortium statistics revealed.

It was the largest decrease of the four UK nations and lower than the UK average decrease of 2.2%.

Shopping centre footfall saw a yearly decrease by 5.7% in December in Northern Ireland, meanwhile footfall in Belfast decreased by 7.2% in the month.

The Northern Ireland Retail Consortium says the industry needs more support.

"Retail has lost 7,000 jobs in Northern Ireland in the last five years and I think Stormont are recognising that," Neil Johnson told UTV.

"So I think what councils can do is to reflect on that and when it comes to their part of the business rates in the next couple of months to be very cognisant of that."

Mr Johnson said it remains a period of "significant flux" for retailers.

"Weak footfall, sluggish demand, rising government-mandated cost pressures, and an uncertain outlook are all weighing on stores," he explained.

"The structural, economic, and regulatory changes affecting retail show few signs of abating."

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