SHOPPERS WERE out in force early to snap up Boxing Day bargains in Dundee yesterday.

Stores reported long queues prior to opening, with some shops opening their doors early for the post-Christmas shopping frenzy.

Boxing Day sales in the Next stores in the Overgate Centre and the Murraygate started at 7 am but desperate shoppers were queuing more than an hour before their opening.

The Overgate Centre said that they expected more customers in the centre than last year, when there was 50,000 people through the doors.

Marketing manager Kylie Wilson said, “We won’t have exact numbers about customers through the centre yet but it is looking like it has been busier than last year, when there were 50,000 people in the centre on Boxing Day.

“Next and Debenhams opened early, at 7 am and 8 am respectively, and the rest of the centre opened at 10 am with most of the shops having sales.

“It’s been non-stop all day and the centre is likely to be busy for the next few days as people snap up bargains.”

It is predicted that nationally Britons will spend £5 billion in post Christmas sales this year.

Elaine Wood, deputy manager at Curry's Kingsway West Retail Park said there was a queue of people outside the door waiting for the sale to begin.

She said, “We opened at nine and we have been exceptionally busy from the word go—we even had people queuing to get in.

“The sale is looking fairly healthy across the board from white goods—washing machines, refrigeration products—to television. We are certainly much busier earlier on than we have been in recent years.”

Gillies of Broughty Ferry promoted their sale through letters to customers and adverts in the Press and television.

Marketing director Mike Wells said this had paid off, with almost 50 people waiting outside the shop when it opened at 10 am.

He said, “We had several early bird bargains, with suites selling for less than half price.”

But one veteran of several Next sales in Dundee said she was surprised to find fewer people than usual braving the elements outside the Overgate to be the first to the discount racks.

She said, “We were there about 6.25 am and we didn’t think it was that busy. The queues weren’t as long as I had seen them and there was no queue at all by the time we left at half past seven.

“We have queued right back round the building to the equivalent of where Claire’s Accessories is before but this morning we were in the first group that got straight in.”