FESTIVE sales in town on Boxing Day and yesterday exceeded expectation in many stores as shoppers queued outside for the best of the bargains.

The post-Christmas sale at Next store in Queen Street attracted the usual gathering of hardy bargain hunters – the queue outside when it opened for business at 6 am yesterday stretched well back past Boots.

Next assistant manager Mark Smith said that staff were kept very busy throughout the day and into the evening – the store remained open until 7 pm.

The store began its shoe sale today at 8 am and were expecting another rush from shoppers.

For Monsoon and Accessorize, trading for their first Christmas in new large stores in the town centre, the holiday sales proved to far exceed expectation.

Eilish Verrechio, manager of both the new Monsoon and the company’s newly converted men’s store in King Street, described the sales which started yesterday as ‘absolutely fantastic.’