Eighteen months after the collapse of Woolworths some 40 per cent of its high street stores remain empty, a survey has found.

The Local Data Company reported that more than 300 of the stores have still not found tenants.

It also found that the biggest proportion of the retailer’s former outlets (25 per cent) have been taken over by discounters such as 99p stores and Poundland. Supermarkets were the next largest group to snap up the stores.

The report also suggested that the UK high street was experiencing a gradual recovery with vacant ex-Woolworths stores being filled gradually.