Spending frenzy gripped south Essex as the winter sales got under way in earnest - with millions being splashed out by bargain hunters.

Queueing up - shoppers flocked to stores such as Next in Southend town centre. Picture: STEVE O'CONNELL 5TCWV1

It came as the Lakeside Shopping Centre revealed that around £12m was spent every day at the giant complex in the run-up to Christmas.

Stores reported record-beating crowds as fears of an economic downturn proved groundless, with an estimated quarter of a million people besieging shops.

It was spend, spend, spend all the way with some people queuing from 3am to snap up the best deals - such as those at Next in Southend.

Julie Newton, assistant manager at Next in the High Street, said: "We are way up on the 2,875 transactions we put through on December 27 last year. In fact, we've had comfortably over 5,000 people through the doors today, the majority of them being women."

Heather Hudson-Oldnall, marketing manager at Lakeside, said: "We will have had 160,000 people through the doors by the end of the day, which is seven per cent up on last year.

"This year is already shaping up to be the strongest Christmas and New Year period we have ever had."

Over the year, 24m people visited Lakeside.

At Basildon's Eastgate Centre, tills also rang loudly throughout the day.

Operations manager Alex Polley said: "We have had a very busy and very successful day. We estimate that by closing time at 6pm we'll have had 75,000 people through the doors."

Published Friday December 28, 2001