HIGH street tycoon Mike Ashley has called for a new tax on online retailers as part of a radical change he says is needed to save the high street.
Appearing before MPs, the Sports Direct founder said any retailer that makes more than 20 per cent of its sales online should be subject to an additional tax.
He said this would encourage businesses like Sports Direct to open more stores rather than increasingly shifting to digital sales channels.
"It's not House of Fraser's fault, it's not Marks & Spencer's fault, it's not Debenhams's fault the high street is dying," Mr Ashley said.
"The internet is killing the high street."
The businessman, who has expanded his high street empire this year with the acquisitions of House of Fraser and Evans Cycles, warned most high streets will not survive until 2030.
"I want to make it crystal clear: the mainstream high street as we think about it today - not the Oxford Streets and the Westfields - are already dead. They can't survive," he said.
"Outside of London it's going to be a ghost town."
Mr Ashley also suggested local government should offer free parking in town centres and reform business rates.
Quizzed by members of the Housing and Local Government Select Committee on the future of House of Fraser, Mr Ashley said nobody would be able to keep all 59 of the department store's branches open "except God".
He also hinted a long-suggested tie-up between Debenhams and House of Fraser could still be on the cards.
"I told them to work together," he said. "They should work together."
House of Fraser has one outlet in Northern Ireland in Belfast's Victoria Square, while there are five Debenhams stores at locations in Belfast, Derry, Craigavon, Ballymena and Newry.
The comments from Mr Ashley come as new figures show that a record £1 every £3 of non-food purchases were made online in November.
The latest British Retail Consortium (BRC)-KPMG retail sales monitor found that the aggressive promotional activity by retailers ahead of Black Friday failed to lure shoppers, with like-for-like sales in November decreasing by 0.5 per cent on last year
Those behind the report said retailers now face a "nerve-wracking" run-up to Christmas.
The report said the proportion of non-food purchases taking place online increased to 33.8 per cent in November - an all-time high.
Meanwhile, a separate report from Barclaycard found just 52 per cent of people across the UK say they have confidence in their household finances - the lowest level recorded since Barclaycard started tracking this data in 2015.
Just four in 10 people feel confident in their ability to spend on non-essential items. and nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) say they are being careful to seek out value for money in the purchases they make.
Barclaycard said the retail sector continued to face challenges, with department store and clothing spending shrinking by 7.1 per cent and 2.9 per cent respectively year on year.
