Revealed: Footfall rises in north Shropshire town by nearly three per cent compared to same period last year
Footfall in Market Drayton town centre last month rose by nearly three per cent compared to the same period in the previous year, figures have revealed.
Visit Shropshire has revealed that the town centre saw a 1.3 per cent increase in footfall compared to March, and a 2.9 per cent increase on April 2024.
There was a total of 213,683 visits to the town centre in April, up from just shy of 211,000 visits in March.
Cheshire Street was the town's busiest road with more than 71,000 visits throughout the month. This was 4.3 per cent higher than in the same month last year, and 14.3 per cent higher than in March this year.
Visit Shropshire added that Cheshire Street boasted 24.6 per cent of all street visits in Market Drayton.
Data also showed that 65.1 per cent of visitors came from within zero to three miles of the town. But, 27.4 per cent of visitors in April came from between 10 and 25 miles away.
Mayor of Market Drayton, Tim Manton was encouraged by the figures.
He said: "I am delighted that there is an increase in footfall in the town. Year on year an increase of 2.9 per cent might not seem a lot, but from little acorns grow big oak trees.
"I am pleased it is going in the right direction. Cheshire Street is our key driver in that. I am keen to see that there are a lot of things that could happen with Cheshire Street to make it even better.
"We want to make Market Drayton a go to place, this is why we have the data to see the busiest areas in the town.
"It's also interesting to see that the most footfall is locally, but that the next biggest set is people from 10 to 25 miles away. That proves that our pull is improving to get people to visit the town from a distance.
"I put it down to the work of the town council, Visit Shropshire, the work of Make it Market Drayton, and not only those organisations, but the other good positive groups that are doing a good job to promote the town. Operations like the market, the traders in the town, redevelopment of Joules, are all a big pull.
"It's all very positive and my attitude is very glass half full."
The figures can be seen here.
