More than 151,000 people braved the arctic temperatures over the weekend to visit Leicester's premier retail and leisure destination, Highcross Leicester, making it the centre's busiest weekend of 2010. 

Footfall at the centre was up by 4 per cent compared to last weekend (December 11 and 12), with trade up by 10 per cent. Sales of footwear and jewellery remain up by more than 20 per cent compared to those sold at Christmas 2009, with health and beauty products also proving to be popular Christmas gifts for Christmas 2010. 

Jo Tallack, interim general manager at Highcross, said: "Unlike other city centres across the UK, Leicester has been fortunate to avoid the worst of the weather. This weekend's figures have exceeded those we experienced during the same week in 2009, with both trade and footfall up on last year. We've also seen a 2.4 per cent growth compared to the same period last year.

"In fact, we've had nearly 50,000 more customers through the doors between December 13 and 19 compared to that of the week before. We're expecting the final days in the run up to Christmas to be even busier, with more than two million people coming through our doors."