London's High Streets are bucking the economic gloom across the country, with the capital the strongest performing region last month.
Footfall on Greater London's High Streets rose by 4.2% in April and just 7.4% of the capital's shops were vacant.
But across the country as a whole, shop vacancies surged to a new high of 11.9% as retail failures including Comet and Jessops knocked holes in shopping centres.
The percentage of empty UK shops in April rose from 10.9% in January and is the highest rate since the British Retail Consortium/Springboard survey began in 2011.
High streets have been "vastly outperforming" shopping centres and out-of-town retail parks, boosted by a 5% increase in evening drinkers, diners and clubbers.
The retail sector has been battered by a wave of failures this year, with entertainment retailer HMV and camera chain Jessops both entering administration in January. Electricals retailer Comet slumped into administration in November.
BRC director general Helen Dickinson said: "It's a major concern that the vacancy rate has reached a record high, driven by increases in almost every part of the UK, with some regions like the South West seeing a significant leap in empty shop numbers."
But rising temperatures lifted April footfall 1% on a year earlier, a marked improvement on the 5.2% fall in March, as more shoppers ventured out compared with a rainy April 2012.
Ms Dickinson added: "The unsettled weather at the start of the month seems to have created pent-up demand, which brought many of us out to shop when more spring-like weather finally made an appearance."
High street footfall was up 3.4%, the strongest performance since December 2011, but shopping centre visitors fell 3%.
The UK's surging vacancy rate follows recent downbeat sales figures from the BRC which showed retail sales slumped at the fastest rate for a year in April as the timing of Easter and a freezing start to the month offset improvements in fashion and beauty.
Like-for-like sales fell 2.2% in April from a year earlier, with the early Easter hitting food sales in particular, it said.
