WORCESTER'S High Street has been highlighted for bucking the trends - with the city set to outperform the region once again in 2015.

New findings have revealed how 12 new retailers opened up in the city during the first half of this year, with 16 closing down.

The position means Worcester lost just four traders overall, with researchers finding 237 surviving retailers during their count in the summer.

Retail experts say Worcester is still weathering the storm well, pointing to a net loss of 406 store closures nationwide from January to July and 67 across the West Midlands.

The city outperformed rival destinations like Birmingham, Solihull and Hereford and other centres like Wolverhampton, Burton, Leamington Spa and Dudley, all of whom suffered overall net losses of between five and 16 retailers.

As your Worcester News revealed in August, the findings follow a booming summer which saw footfall surge in the city.

In June and July reveal footfall increased as much as 5.7 per cent year-on-year at its peak, meaning shopper numbers surged by a total of 64,186 across the two months.

Worcester has 732 businesses located in the city centre boundaries and the void rate was hovering at around 13 per cent at the last count.

The closures research has come from the Local Data Company, which says the traditional High Street is changing for good and insists closures are levelling off everywhere.

Director Matthew Hopkins said: "As ever, the devil is in the detail.

"We are seeing the continuing decline of pubs and clothing shops whilst seeing previously expansive sectors such as banks, betting shops and cheque cashing all in retreat from the High Street.

"But the results are encouraging."

Yasmin Fard, who runs 23 Knots in Worcester High Street, an independent clothing, art, homeware and accessories shop, said: "We're the only independent shop in this area and we're quite lucky, we have great customers.

"We are a bit quieter this year than last year but there's a lot going on, issues around traffic and so on and that all impacts.

"We can't complain. We're quite happy, we've never got any intention of being one of those closures and are keen to stay current, getting new ideas."

Vicky Evans, who co-runs Toys & Games in Broad Street, said: "We've been here 11 years and we still get new customers.

"We're doing well and think we've got great products."