The chief executive of Burberry has stepped up calls for Rishi Sunak to scrap the tourist tax as he warned that even British shoppers were now shunning London for luxury shopping.

Jonathan Akeroyd said people were turning to cities like Paris and Milan where they can take advantage of tax free shopping post-Brexit rather than shopping locally. Mr Akeroyd said Burberry had seen a “big surge in British tourists spending in mainland Europe, which is obviously quite telling”.

It comes amid growing frustrations from luxury chiefs over the Prime Minister’s so-called tourist tax.

Britain axed VAT-free shopping for tourists in 2021 in a move that many have argued has put visitors off spending.