High streets across the UK have been unnervingly quiet over the past week with shoppers working from home and staying in to watch the Olympics, research suggests.
New figures show footfall on British high streets is down an average of 9% from the previous weekend.
Research by Springboard found that a combination of warm weather and wall-to-wall sport on TV meant people stayed at home to watch cyclist Mark Cavendish fail to get a medal on Saturday - with footfall down 14.3% compared to the same weekend last year.
A deserted Spinningfields in Manchester city centre
On Sunday, footfall was down 11% from the previous year on high streets outside of London - with 85 towns and cities tracked.
Experts from the research company said warm weather probably encourage people to stay in their gardens or head to local parks instead of shopping.
Head of retail insights Diane Wehrle said: “Town Centres & High Streets across the UK had predicted that the double whammy of major televised sporting event and good weather would not be good for sales last weekend, but the Olympic drop off is still more than expected.”
The number of people working from home in London and the South East during the Olympics has increased by almost a third, according to research by mobile phone company O2, which could have affected shopping in city centres.
The company said 50% of the 2,000 adults surveyed said they were working flexibly over the Olympics, travelling later or earlier than usual. The research, conducted over the last two days of July, estimates around four million people are working from home.
Transport for London and London 2012 chiefs have drawn widespread criticism for "scaremongering" tourists and locals from going into central London, with shops, restaurants and attractions unusually quiet since the Olympic Games began.
A London Chamber of Commerce spokeswoman previously said too many people had heeded warnings about transport in the city and TfL pulled recorded announcements by Mayor of London Boris Johnson, warning people about how busy the city centre and public transport would be during the Games.
The Westfield shopping centre at the Olympic park in Stratford
Westfield Stratford City will be closed to members of the public without a ticket for the Olympic Games on Friday and Saturday.
LOCOG chief executive Paul Deighton said: “As we move into the second week of the Games the Olympic Park will be much busier as the Olympic Stadium hosts its first sporting events.
"This Friday and Saturday will be the busiest days of the Games, with more than 200,000 people travelling to the Olympic Park alone.
“Because of the huge number of people coming to the Park on those days at certain times we have to restrict general public access to Westfield Stratford City and we are encouraging people to avoid travelling to Stratford unless they have a ticket.”