Bargain hunters hit the sales

Some shoppers queued outside stores from the early hours as prices were cut by up to 70% by retailers who have suffered a "a poor Christmas" due to the looming recession and credit crunch.

Stephen Robertson, director general of the British Retail Consortium, warned: "We'll see the full December figures in a few weeks, but they won't be pretty. Few retailers have not been hit by the slowdown but some harder than others. Discounts and promotions on a scale unprecedented for the run-up to Christmas, combined with weak sales, have put margins under severe pressure."

Approximately 2,000 shoppers queued up outside Selfridges in London early on Boxing Day waiting for the doors to open.

A spokesman said: "The first person in the queue had been there since 2am. She was there to buy a Chanel bag. It was mental when they came into the store. I've never seen anything like it. People were running into the store and grabbing bags. Some women had four of five bags in their hands. Security had to get more people down to the store to help."

It took some shoppers up to an hour to queue for the tills.

Debenhams, which slashed prices by as much as 70% in what it described as its biggest-ever sale, opened its doors at 7am.

A spokesman for the retailer said: "The stores at Lakeside (in Essex) and on Oxford Street saw queues of about 500 people from about 6am. And at the Trafford Centre store in Manchester there were queues of 200 to 300 people from about 6am."

Some 500,000 bargain-hunters flocked to London's West End to take full advantage of big discounts in the shops. Some had been queuing since 2am to be first in line when shops opened their doors at 7am on Oxford Street.

Jace Tyrrell, of the New West End Company, representing more than 600 traders in Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street, said: "Are they mad? Well, it's very tempting when you've got designer handbags with 60% off."