Thousands more visitors have been recorded as going through Shrewsbury’s three shopping centres compared to this time last year, new figures have revealed.

A year-on-year increase in footfall has been reported by Nick Pitt, centre director of the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside centres, who said that across the three centres visitor numbers were up by 12,120 per month.

But people appear to be tightening their belts despite the increased footfall, spending less money on average than previously.

“We have had a slight decrease in Pride Hill, but a significant increase in the Darwin Centre,” he said.

Mr Pitt said the figures added up to about 12 million visits by shoppers each year.

But he added: “Average transaction values have dropped off slightly – people are looking for a bargain.”

He said this figure was also affected by retailers running sales as they look to draw in customers.

He added that spending was not just confined to the centres’ lower-end shops, with its more expensive outlets still trading well.

Speaking at the public exhibition for the New Riverside proposals – a scheme that could see £150 million investing in transforming Shrewsbury’s shopping centres into a single complex complete with a new department store and 10 new restaurants – Mr Pitt said the figures represented good news for the prospective development.

“The net increase across the scheme is 12,000. That bodes well for the New Riverside because of the type of offer it is,” he said.

“People are looking for a bargain, but not necessarily in the cheaper shops. They are tightening where they can to get the best value for what they are looking for.

“We are in discussions with various retailers about relocation and that is encouraging.”

Feedback forms have been handed out at the New Riverside public exhibition, with a total of 162 filled in by 3pm on Friday.

According to a spokesman for the developers, 142 of the responses they were given were in favour of the plans, with only three people saying they were opposed.