Retail parks have been hit worse than the high street due to the rise of online shopping, according to new data. A study from the Local Data Company (LDC) of around 1,500 UK shopping locations has said that a high percentage of premises have been empty for three or more years and some of these may never be reoccupied.

“There is increasing polarisation between the retail parks that are doing nicely and the dogs,” said Matthew Hopkinson, director of the LDC.

“Vacant shops on out-of-town retail parks have been caused by the decline of retailers selling electrical goods, bulky white goods, DIY and home entertainment,” he said. The rise of online shopping had left these retailers “caught like rabbits in the headlights”.

Locations that have been effected the most are the West Midlands with nearly a third of units unoccupied for three or more years, and the worst hit places were Newport in Wales and Skelmersdale in Lancashire where they each have three-quarters of premises unoccupied for three or more years.