A REPORT published yesterday paints a gloomy picture of Britain’s high street, with town centre vacancy rates rising from 12% to 14.5% in 2010.

The study, released by the Local Data Company (LDC), shows a continued increase in the number of vacant shops to an all-time high along with a widening of the North-South divide.

In the report – Terminal Illness or Gradual Decline – LDC claims the traditional British high street now faces “the greatest challenge for survival in its history”.

LDC has published league tables showing vacancy rates in large, medium and small retail centres putting those with the highest vacancy rates at the top.

Liverpool features at number 15 out of 25 in the table for large centres with a vacancy rate of 21.6%, a 6.5% increase on 2009. Top is Rotherham, with a vacancy rate of 28.2%.

In the medium centres table, Warrington is at number 12 with a 23% vacancy rate while in the table for small centres, Runcorn is at number four with a rate of 30.2%.

According to the report, there are two divides.

The North/South divide that shows Northern and Midland regions well above the national average at 16.5% vacancy and southern regions well below it at 12.3%.

And the size divide that shows large centres with significantly higher vacancy than average at 16.5% and smaller centres with around 12%.

The North East, North West, East Midlands and West Midlands all see average vacancy rates for large centres around 19%. Yorkshire and the Humber is higher at nearly 21%.

London, the South East, the East and the South West all cluster around 14%. Scotland stands out with the lowest regional rate – 12.6%.

There is more divergence among the medium-sized centres with the highest vacancy in the North East and North West at 18% to 19%.

The Midlands regions, the South East and the East cluster around 14%, along with Scotland, while London shows the lowest overall vacancy at under 10%.

LDC director Matthew Hopkinson said: “This report shows that many dynamics are impacting the health of our town centres up and down the country.

“The good news is that the rate of increase has remained lower than in 2008/9, but are we set for the national average to remain at 15%. The sad reality is that the number of vacant shops is increasing, with certain areas of the country severely impacted. High streets will never revert back to what they once were.”