Tube strike expected to hurt West End trading

New West End company spokesman Jace Tyrell said: "It's hugely damaging for the West End. 96 per cent of the visitors come by public transport and two thirds of that is by tube."

Tyrell estimated that the total cost to businesses in the West End area would be in the region of £10m during the action. More than 100,000 retail workers in the area were also affected by the disruption to their route to work.

Figures released on Wednesday to Retail Week revealed that the strike caused between 25 and 30 per cent of staff to be late for work.

Some retailers, however, were sanguine about the shutdown.

A Next spokeswoman said: "Less than 10 per cent of our stores were affected and because some tube lines were running, as well as all the buses, we don't anticipate that our customers will have had difficulty."

A New Look spokesman commented that trade was "exactly the same" as normal.