Shoppers stayed away from UK high streets during last month’s heatwave temperatures, with many choosing to buy online instead as the mercury in some areas rose into the mid-30Cs. Trips to high streets were down by 3.8% year on year in July after a 6.2% fall in June, according to research from the monitoring firm Sensormatic for the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Helen Dickinson, the BRC chief executive, said: “The heatwave continued to bear down on retail footfall in July, with high streets worst affected. The capital had 5.3% fewer shoppers last month compared with 3% fewer across England. “Unfortunately, business rates often punish stores for such investments, showing the need for government to look again at this broken system.”