Shops left vacant after 27 high-profile collapses since 2008 are now 80 per cent full, with just one in five remaining vacant, according to new data.

Big retail chains such as Woolworths, Blockbusters, Comet and Borders left a big hole in the high street when they entered administration.

The research, by the Local Data Company for Deloitte, encompasses 5,900 properties hints that the high street is outperforming shopping centres and retail parks, which has vacancy rates of 29 per cent and 37 per cent respectively.

But the research also showed that high street preferences have changed since the recession. One in five of the re-lettings were by discount stores, while 12 per cent were snapped up by convenience stores.

But the proliferation of bookmakers, pawn brokers and charity shops is showing signs of a slowdown. Just three per cent of lettings were by charity shops, while pawnbrokers and bookmakers accounted for only 0.1 per cent.

Ian Geddes, head of retail at Deloitte, said: "It is likely that the rate of expansion by bookmakers may not be as aggressive as widely believed, with new openings often offset by closures.

"The growth in online and mobile gambling would appear to make any substantial long term growth in overall betting shop numbers unlikely."