Anna Browning BBC News in Oxford Street

The turnout for the event was certainly impressive

It has been a bad summer on the High Street, not least on the UK's biggest High Street of all, Oxford Street.

Already hit by a fall in consumer spending, July's bombings in the capital precipitated a nose-dive in retailers' fortunes as shoppers took their trade to out-of-town shopping malls.

So it appeared drastic action was needed to bring people back to the heart of London.

And closing the capital's busiest shopping street - and a major bus route - to make way for pop stars, big-name DJs, fashion shows, �1,000 giveaways and trapeze artists, seems to have been the answer.

Opening Saturday's free Oxford Street party, London's mayor Ken Livingstone said: "It is the first ever time we have closed Oxford Street to traffic. Today is about getting people into London. We want to make certain that shops make a real benefit out of this."

The brainchild of Marks and Spencer boss Stuart Rose, the Dress to Impress party was staged to show London was back in business and entice back the crowds - and it certainly worked.

Oxford Street on a Saturday has never been for the faint-hearted.

Transe Express was a highlight

But this Saturday was something else, as thousands and thousands battled for a place to see the next bike stunt show, juggling act, or dance act.

The reported public fear of travelling into central London after the bombings was nowhere in evidence as children, parents, teenage girls and their bored boyfriends joined in the carnival atmosphere.

With shoppers at times barely able to move in the packed street, the entertainment was constant - whether at ground-level or many metres in the air, thanks to French band Transe Express and a rather substantial crane.

Dressed as toy soldiers, the eight-man troupe had onlookers rooted to the spot as the act moved metres above their heads playing drums.

Elsewhere, world-famous shoppers Edina and Patsy appeared to have been drawn to the spectacle, as had Elvis, a steel band and Geisha girls on stilts.

There was little doubt, the stores meant business.

On a temporary stage, DJs Emma B, Jamie Theakston, Toby Anstis and Chris Farrell mercilessly plugged brands to the throng between sets from acts such as Madame Tussaud's Air Guitar group and pop babe Rachel Stevens.

We were going to go to Bluewater, but we heard about this and thought we would come here instead Gill Reidy Dress to Impress in pictures

One clothes chain was offering the whole of its shop window, while another was giving away free shoes.

A man dragging a barrow of freebies had little chance as a scrum of women swooped on him.

But inside the department stores it seemed a bit quiet.

Staff manning the make-up concessions gazed out of the window glassy-eyed, while in-store cafes seemed eerily quiet.

"We haven't been very busy, they're all in the street," said the man from Dior.

"The told us in Marks' it's been quiet," said Carole Smith, 62, from Bromley, in Kent.

Some of the world's most famous shoppers were in town for the day

"But we've had a great time. We've seen the acrobats - they were excellent - and the pipe band. Although we missed the Croydon steel band."

"We were going to go to Bluewater, but we heard about this and thought we would come here instead," said her friend Gill Reidy, 56.

But then, until now they had been put off travelling into London because of the bombings - so maybe the event was working?

"I just thought it would be something for the kids to enjoy," said Joe Walsh, 37, from Tottenham, north London.

"But now we're here we have bought a few things. They were offering discounts, and my wife can't help herself when it comes to a bargain."