Parking and long shop queues putting people off visiting Portsmouth's main streets

Seventy-five per cent of people who took part in a survey by Quidco said expensive parking, time constraints on how long they can stay and long queues keep them away.

But the findings by the cashback provider show shoppers care about their local high street, with almost one in seven residents declaring they ‘love’ it, and almost half – 44 per cent – saying they’ve made their best purchases there.

However, the research showed high streets have ‘clear image issues’, with 15 per cent believing better deals can be found online.

Just over a quarter – 28 per cent – said they found bargains on clothes were better online and 24 per cent believed in-store sale items were made up of old stock.

Despite this, almost two-thirds of the 254 people who responded to the survey – 65 per cent – said they would prefer to shop in-person rather than online if given the choice. Seventy-eight per cent of respondents said they preferred to investigate the quality of products before they buy.

When asked what they’d change, 42 per cent requested more shops, while 37 per cent wanted cheaper parking.