Shoppers lured back to high street

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Temporary discounts, coupled with the hoped-for Christmas rush and early introductions of the 2.5% VAT cut - which is officially implemented on Monday - have had a positive effect, retailers said.

One shopping centre reported that it had even more people through its doors than it did in the same period last year.

But after a week in which two household names - Woolworths and MFI - went into administration, retailers warned that a small drop in VAT could not compensate for the disastrous effects of a housing market in crisis and they said they were not complacent about ensuring their own survival.

At PC World at the Lakeside shopping centre in Essex, around 500 people queued this morning for a two-day promotion offering discounts of up to half price on laptops and cameras, with the line beginning to form late last night.

At the Brent Cross shopping centre in north London, shops were feeling the start of the Christmas rush and reaping the benefits of short-term promotions of 20% to 30% off products.

General manager Tom Nathan, who also looks after Leicester's Highcross centre, said he was "pretty hopeful" for a "reasonable" December at the centres.

"We know that people are having it tough and that's why retailers are responding by offering better value, and I do think they are making some headway," he said. "People are gravitating either towards price or quality. Christmas is coming and that's good news, people will want to celebrate."

At the Bluewater Shopping Centre in Greenhithe, Kent, most retailers had implemented the VAT cut early to attract shoppers.

A spokeswoman for the centre said shops were experiencing good sales and had high numbers of people through their doors - 6.7% more compared to the same period last year.