In light of support from the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats for the Sustainable Communities Bill, which seeks to give new powers to councils to save local shops and amenities; new research from Hyder Consulting reveals that 80% of UK adults believe it is important to support the local high street.

However, findings from the leading planning and environmental consultancy show that less than a third (32%) of people actually shop on the high street today while nearly half (45%) say they do their main grocery shopping in out of town retail sites.

A further six per cent of UK adults say they use online stores for their main grocery shopping and just five per cent of those questioned said they use village shops.

However despite this, almost three quarters (72%) of Britons say they would like to see Government and local councils doing more to incentivise businesses to locate to their local area.

"While many people believe it is important to support local shops and businesses, our study demonstrates that in reality the lure of the out of town retail site is more attractive when it comes to actually selecting where to go for the weekly grocery shop," states Stewart Scott, Director, Hyder Consulting.

"While the concept of more Government and council incentives to encourage businesses to locate to local areas and high streets received widespread support, this is only one side of the story, it is as crucial to ensure that transport links, parking and other facilities are in place to make the shopping experience as simple and pain-free as possible.

"However, the harsh fact is that if people do not use local shops and businesses then they will cease to exist, particularly given the pressures that many of these are already facing from national retailers."