Record tourist spend

TOURISTS will spend a record £27bn in Britain next year as the number of overseas visits passes 40m for the first time, official estimates suggest.

national agency Visit Britain said there will have been 39.9m trips to the UK this year, an all-time high, with more expected in 2018.

It comes after the post-Brexit fall in the pound triggered a boom in tourism by making Britain a much cheaper destination.

The pound’s fall also sucked in shoppers from the Middle east and Asia looking to spend their cash on luxury goods.

Department store Harrods notched up £2.1bn of spending in its last financial year, with total transactions up 23.3pc.