GETTY This week is set to be the biggest yet for retailers

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This week is forecast to be the busiest yet for retailers as shoppers leave it to the last minute to buy presents. Because Christmas Day falls on a Sunday this year, buyers have effectively been given an extra Saturday of spending on Christmas Eve, bumping up sales to unprecedented levels. Cash withdrawals this month are at an all-time high and stores say they expect records to tumble.

John Lewis has already broken its record week for trading, notching up almost £200million in sales in the week of Black Friday, up by 6.5 per cent. In London, the boom has been fuelled by foreign buyers cashing in on the falling pound. Jace Tyrrell, chief executive of New West End Company, which represents the capital’s busiest shopping district including Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street, said Brexit had given the West End a “positive boost, driven by an influx of international shoppers looking to make the most of the weak pound.”

GETTY As Christmas Day falls on a Sunday retailers have an extra Saturday to sell their goods

He added: “Christmas trading is expected to hit a record-breaking £2.34billion as a result.”

Shoppers have embraced a ‘keep calm and carry on spending’ attitude Richard Lim of Retail Economics

Shopping centres in other parts of the UK are also reporting a rise in numbers compared with last December. Gordon McKinnon, operations director at Intu, which owns 18 shopping malls including Manchester’s Trafford Centre, said: “We’ve seen more and more people come through our doors and we expect to see this trend continuing. “This week is going to be incredibly busy, with a million shoppers expected to visit our centres every day.”

Amazing vintage photographs of high street shopping Tue, November 8, 2016 Vintage photographs depicting shopping in high street favourites Marks and Spencer, BHS, Selfridges & John Lewis through the years. Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 14 Selfridges display a dress in the window during clothes rationing in 1941

Research suggests that consumer spending has not been adversely affected by the referendum result, despite the Remain camp’s predictions of economic collapse. A poll by Retail Economics found that 82 per cent of shoppers were not planning to change their spending habits in light of the UK’s decision to leave the EU, with just 16 per cent expressing more caution. Asked if they planned to curb their spending to reflect future economic uncertainty, 70 per cent of respondents said No.

GETTY John Lewis has already broken its record week for trading

Richard Lim, chief executive of Retail Economics, said: “Shoppers have embraced a ‘keep calm and carry on spending’ attitude, seemingly unfazed by the Brexit vote and undeterred by the economic doom-mongers.” Another survey by Qualtrics found that 60 per cent are planning to spend the same amount on Christmas presents as they did last year, with 20 per cent planning to spend more. Only 20 per cent said they planned to spend less. Cash withdrawals are at an all-time high, with Link, the ATM network, reporting a seven per cent increase in withdrawals compared with last year, totalling £1.8billion. Chief executive John Howells said: “These figures show that cash usage is up as consumers go out determined to enjoy the festive season.

GETTY 70 per cent of people said they would not curb their spending this Christmas