SHOPS were reporting the busiest Boxing Day sales ever as thousands of bargain hunters descended on stores.

Manchester city centre and The Trafford Centre were open for business from 7am with cash registers ringing to the tune of tens of thousands of shoppers.

Despite online sales – and some on the high street – launching earlier in the week, more than 15,000 people were in The Trafford Centre's malls by 9am. The figure had doubled by 11am.

Manchester Arndale opened for the first time on Boxing Day with Next reporting its busiest opening day of the sales in a decade. Around 3,000 people were queuing outside the store for its 7am opening – with the first in the queue camping out from 3.30am. The store was expecting to have taken £1m by 5pm.

The savviest shoppers had finished their trolley dash in time for Selfridges, in Exchange Square, opening its doors at 8am. More than 2,000 people are reported to have been queuing outside the department store from 5.30am. Crowds were pushed up against the glass and stormed the store, heading straight for the Gucci concession and mountains of designer handbags with up to 75 per cent off.

Paramedics

Shoppers were only momentarily distracted when a roof panel fell down in the packed accessories department leaving four customers requiring treatment by paramedics, including one woman for minor head injuries.

General manager Jane Sharrocks said: “We can confirm that a three-foot square piece of plastic from the ceiling light fixture fell in our Manchester Exchange Square store.”

She added: “All four customers sustained only minor injuries such as nose bleed and superficial bruising. Selfridges is currently assessing the cause of the incident.”

One shopper, Adam Caulfield, from Oldham, said: “It was pandemonium.”

The store said it had been a particularly busy year for accessories and designer wear.

Discounting

Gordon McKinnon, director of operations at The Trafford Centre, said: “At this point it certainly feels busier than previous years. People have no doubt been waiting for the sales because we didn't have the same level of discounting beforehand that there was last year.”

The fact that Boxing Day has fallen on a Saturday, the return of VAT to 17.5 per cent in the new year and free parking in Manchester city centre are all credited with encouraging this year's sales success.