CONSUMER TRENDS: Shoppers take to streets at night

In less than a decade nearly a third of trips to the doctor, hairdresser or dentists will be made in the evening, according to a new report.

And, by the year 2005, 30 per cent of our "personal-business travel" - visits to places such as the dry-cleaners - will take place between 5pm and 10pm, compared with 17.4 per cent today. In 1985 to 1986, 6.4 per cent of shopping trips took place between 6 and 10pm. By last year it had increased to 9 per cent and is expected to be 15 per cent by 2006. "Convenience is king," said Leon Kreitzman of the Future Foundation, the analysts who produced the interim findings of the 24 Hour Society report for BT and First Direct. "A real demand for the 24-hour society is growing."