11 December 2023 , 21:02
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A heaving mass of shoppers found themselves at a standstill in a packed out Oxford Street that had gone way beyond its natural capacity.
People were becoming angry and distressed at being halted above the Tube station unable to move or to enter the station to get home. It was caused by the sheer number of visitors to the world-famous stretch of stores, who were anxious to get some their seasonal shopping done.
And the shocking scene was captured on a video posted to TikTok – that has been seen more than half a million times – with the caption: "Oxford Street on a random Saturday in December".
According to the Daily Express, the video was posted by London travel influencer Sofia whose account is @sofigioffreda and it sparked a stream of comments on the total chaos. One former Londoner said: "This is my version of HELL, and will inevitably be the reason I move out of London." Another said: "Here I was, terribly missing London after almost 13 years living there. Well, not anymore… thanks for this video, it erased my nostalgic feelings."
One person who had been caught up in the crowds said: “I'm not a Londoner but i'm living here temporarily and today was the absolute worst," while another said: "Where have all these people come from?! I have never seen it so busy in central London as it has been last couple years." Others called the jam “chaos” and “Hell on Earth.”
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Earlier this year retail experts sparked concern about the future of Oxford Street – with top Marks & Spencer boss saying that “something must be done” to save the street.
Operations director Sacha Berendji said crime rates on Oxford Street are surging as what was once London's top shopping district falls into disrepair. The mob of shoppers in the capital also gathered despite concerns about retail performance over the Christmas period in the UK more generally.
And it was no better last year. MyLondon's Matt Spivey recounted his own experience of the "rat race" that is Oxford Street during the Christmas shopping season. He advised: "I would find a way to avoid London's Oxford Street altogether. I had optimistically hoped that as I had arrived in Central London early on a cold Monday morning that other people wouldn't choose to put themselves through the same ordeal at a time when many were busy in work – but I was so wrong."
He said that going by the huge mass of people going up and down the packed street, it felt as though he'd "entered into some sort of rat race", with hoards of people hanging around trying to decide which shop they'd go to next.
And he told how from Oxford Circus it seemed there was a "never-ending stream of bodies packed tighter than a Tube carriage at peak times". And he added: "I had just one thought, which I've had every year, 'next year I'll just shop online'."