Town centres are under pressure to find new ways to boost footfall after figures today showed the first increase in shop vacancies since early 2013.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said the national town centre vacancy rate was 10.3% in October, an increase from July's rate of 10.1%.

The deterioration came as footfall on high streets fell by 1.4% on a year earlier, compared with a rise of 1.9% for out-of-town shopping centres. Overall, retail footfall was 0.8% lower.

BRC director-general Helen Dickinson said some local areas needed to learn from successful town centres by encouraging pop-up shops or community spaces to ensure that empty units do not become a blight on the area.

She added: "Consideration needs to be given to how people want to use their high streets now and in the future. Leisure activities, coffee shops, access to local services and the desire for community engagement will be as important as retail as high streets re-invent themselves.

"Digital connectivity is vital as the lines between online and bricks-and-mortar retailing become increasingly blurred."

Ms Dickinson also repeated the organisation's call for fundamental reform of the business rates system in order to make investment in property improvements attractive again for businesses.

Today's report said the rise in the vacancy rate was in part due to pressure on margins, exacerbated by poor sales resulting from the mild weather.

It is also likely to be the first evidence of the impact of the large number of retail leases which are due to expire over the period to December 2015.

Diane Wehrle, retail insights director at survey partner Springboard, said: "We need to become accustomed to an increasing vacancy rate over the next year as this accelerates, as this will inevitably offer retailers an opportunity to vacate poorer performing locations.''

Four regions in England reported footfall above the UK average, with East Midlands up 2%, South East up 1.5%, East up 0.8% and North & Yorkshire up 0.5%. Northern Ireland reported the largest decline in its footfall rate, down 5.3% in October.