The Christmas shopping rush headed into full swing this weekend as tourists and shoppers visited central London to soak up the festive atmosphere.

Drawing crowds into central London meant a heaving mass of shoppers found themselves at a standstill just outside entrances to Leicester Square Underground station towards the end of the evening.

The roads looked claustrophobic with people weaving in and out of cars, and many drivers becoming distressed and unable to move to get home.

One visitor posted a video on social media platform, TikTok, which showed crowds of hundreds of people trying to enter the Tube station.

The video contained the plea: “If anyone was planning on going to Central London for Christmas time… please don’t.”

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@leahinlondon13 The queue for the tube station������#fyp #london #londonlife #londonreality #londonatchristmas #christmasinlondon ♬ Elf – Main Theme – Geek Music

Drivers were left with no choice but to let pedestrians swarm the roads, making it difficult to drive through the area.

User, Noa, commented on the crowded scenes and the video which was posted on Sunday December 10: “I’ve just came back from London, honestly I’ve seen enough people for the remaining of this year.”

TikTok user, amygdala, wrote: “Even looking at this on my phone is giving me a panic attack.”

Seb who works in the area said: “I literally work in Leicester Square and this week has been absolute madness, getting to work having to fight through the hoards.”

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According to e-commerce platform, Ubuy, London is ranked as their number one destination for Christmas markets.

Their report stated: “The UK’s capital city has dozens of Christmas markets that visitors love, including Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, the Southbank, King’s Cross and of course Hyde Park’s famous Winter Wonderland!”

In their study, the hashtags counted to reveal how popular London’s Christmas Markets are added up to 12.3 million views on TikTok, proving the capital has a huge popularity rating over the festive period.

Statista, also revealed average spending per head during the Christmas period in 2023 is expected to vary between just below £700 in North East to around £973 in London in the United Kingdom, showing shoppers are willing to spend slightly more in the capital city.

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