DESPITE a “challenging” year more people are visiting Durham, with a spike in trade just before Christmas.

Figures show 2016 saw a year-on-year increase of 1.7 per cent of the number of people visiting Durham city centre.

Adam Deathe, Business Engagement Manager for Durham’s Business Improvement District (BID), said: “Footfall was up year on year 1.7 per cent. Given that 2015 included Lumiere, which wasn’t held last year, it shows that Durham is doing remarkably well.

“Even businesses which have seen footfall go down have said the spend was up. People are going to shop not just to browse.”

Colin Wilkes, who runs Durham Markets, added: “It’s been challenging for the high street, there’s no news in that. Like most cities we’re up against out of town retailers and the internet sales so we’re constantly seeking to find something a bit different and a bit quirky.

“National footfall figures are well down year on year so anywhere that’s close to parity is a good result.”

Business leaders had expressed fears that lengthy roadworks on the A690 over the summer, as well as building work at The Gates and the impact of the Brexit vote on consumer confidence could hit the city’s economy.

The Prince Bishops Shopping Centre also lost BHS, one of Durham’s biggest city centre shops, in August.

Mr Deathe added: “Nationally there was a big push towards online retailing, which is an ever growing trend.

“People are shopping differently with things like click and collect so people can order anything from places like Boots and M&S and pick it up in store.

“That’s great for a city like Durham where the retail offer is broad but the units aren’t the largest. It means people are still coming in, not just to shop but for culture or a leisurely afternoon.”

At Durham Markets, there was a small decline in year’s overall footfall, said Mr Wilkes.

He added: “December has been not too bad – we were up about 11 per cent year on year and were particularly busy over the Christmas festival period.

“It was an excellent end to the year.

“The Christmas festival is the one event in the year which is driven by retail and people come to buy, not for a world class lights festival or to listen to music. That’s a win win for the whole city centre.”

Over the three days of the Christmas festival, which ran over the first weekend in December, the markets saw more than 30,000 people shopping there – around 11 per cent more than over the same period last year.