Riots cost retail £80m

Mayhem caused by the UK riots has cost the High Street 80m in lost sales alone.

The Centre of Retail Research on behalf of Kelkoo estimate the total bill faced by retailers and insurers will come to 141m. It follows rioting and looting in London, Birmingham, Bristol and Manchester.

HMV, GAME, Comet and Tesco were amongst the games retailers targeted.

The cost is a result of stores closing early and shoppers avoiding riot hot spots. These effects are likely to last well into September.

Despite the chaos showing signs of abating, UK retailers are sadly going to feel the fallout of this week’s riots for several months to come," said Kelkoo chief marketing officer Christ Simpson.

Much of the cost will be picked up by insurers but we cannot overlook the fact that on top of the damage caused, retailers, restaurants, pubs and other service providers have been forced to shut their doors to business in order to protect their staff, customers and premises.

This comes at a time when retailers are already struggling to stay afloat."