Is the curse of Oxford Street starting to lift? Nearly a third of American ... trends now

The crackdown on Oxford Street's candy stores appears to be working after the number blighting the road dropped by a third in a year to 21 from a peak of 30.

Westminster City Council officials are trying to rid London's iconic shopping street of the tacky shops, which have replaced household names and blighted the area.

They have been working with Trading Standards on a probe into the 'American style' shops amid allegations some have evaded £8million worth of business rates.

The council has seized £1million worth of illegal and counterfeit goods from candy stores and souvenir shops on Oxford Street since operations began in late 2021.

The number of sweet shops keeps fluctuating with the council playing 'whack-a-mole' as new stores continually open up in different locations as others close.

Now, a report by the council's overview and scrutiny committee said it has 'ramped up the pressure on candy stores, souvenir and vape shops' - with some freeholders even inviting Trading Standards to act so they can begin legal action against tenants.

It will be a boost to the West End which has become blighted by the gaudy shops after established retailers such as Debenhams, House of Fraser and Topshop shut.

A council raid in March on one of the tacky Oxford Street shops selling counterfeit goods

A raid on American candy stores on Oxford Street in October 2022 saw the council seize £215,000 worth of fake Gucci phone cases, vapes and counterfeit rucksacks in a crackdown

The council seized a haul of fake Wonka chocolate bars worth £22,000 which were among counterfeit products totalling £100,000 seized from three Oxford Street stores in June 2022

A worker adjusts the display in an American-style candy shop on Oxford Street in July

The report said London's reputation for attracting global investors in residential and commercial property was under threat from a 'growing minority of these investors' using the area for money laundering, fraud and other economic crime.

It added: 'The reputation of Westminster has been further impacted post-pandemic by the presence of candy stores and souvenir shops taking up – at peak levels – 30 units on Oxford Street.

'These firms owe the Council millions in unpaid business rates, but as we have tried to pursue them we have come up against patsy directors registered on Companies House, and phoenixing where firms have shut to re-open under a new name in the same property but are able to avoid their business rates liability.

'These two strands - questionable overseas property ownership and candy stores carrying out questionable business practices to avoid their responsibilities - have overlap in the cause and potential solutions when considered under a broader heading of 'economic crime'.

The Oxford Street area has become hit by crime and homelessness in recent years having fallen into disrepair with empty shops, littered streets and dwindling numbers of visitors.

But the report said: 'We have ramped up the pressure on candy stores, souvenir and vape shops, to make clear the status quo is not acceptable.

'Following multiple attempts to engage with each freeholder and long leaseholder, requesting that they do all they can stop letting agents leasing empty properties to candy stores or souvenir shops, we then carried out a transparency release of those who failed to engage positively with the council.

The HMV store on Oxford Street in London is pictured in 2018 shortly before it closed (left) and in its current form as 'Candy World', one of the

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Music retailer HMV is to reopen its flagship Oxford Street store (left, pictured in 2018), which was turned into an American candy outlet (right) after the firm's departure in 2019