Bargain hunters braved the cold this morning as they queued outside shops for the Boxing Day sales.

Pictures showed thousands of people around the country waiting eagerly for stores to open so they could snap up reduced items.

In North Tyneside the yearly festive tradition sees shoppers form a snake-like queue around the Silverlink shopping park as they wait for the Next store to open.

This year, the thrifty crowd of around three thousand people were dressed in bobble hats, scarfs and fur boots before it opened at 6am this morning.

Friends Hollie Gregory, 50, and Julie Lee, 51, from Wirral, Merseyside, said they had arrived at the Next store on Church Street in Liverpool at 5.45am and there had been about 160 people ahead of them in the queue before the shop opened at 6am.

Ms Gregory said: ‘We come every year, it’s like a tradition, but we have been buying less as years go by because we’re trying not to consume as much for environmental reasons.’

The pair had bought gifts for family members and homeware in the sales.

There were also long lines at the Metro Centre, in Gateshead.

A shopper queuing up outside Lush cosmetics told Sky News: ‘We’ve been here since 6am in the morning so I’m ready to go home.

‘But we’ve got three more shops to go and we’re finished.’

She added: ‘It’s been busy but it’s worth it.

‘It will be a big spend. We buy all our Christmas presents for next year.

It was also really busy in central London.

Selfridges in Oxford Street was packed on all six floors, with customers picking out discounted high-end perfumes, shoes and clothes.

Queues had snaked around several of the stores in Oxford Street before they opened at 9am, with shoppers huddled under umbrellas and sitting on bags waiting for the doors to open.

Despite the queues outside shops today Britons are expected to spend £200 million less in the post-Christmas sales this year as environmental concerns drive down buying.

Some four in ten UK adults will make the most of sales from Boxing Day, spending an average of £186 each and a total of £3.7 billion, according to Barclaycard.

However, due to concerns about the environment, 62% intend to make fewer purchases, rising to 68% of women.

Almost seven in 10 consumers (67%) also plan to spend less on ‘fast fashion’ because of the potential environmental impact of its production.

The predictions will cause alarm at the end of another tough year for the beleaguered UK retail sector.

Store closures, business failures and job losses have continued as online has continued to drive growth and competition in the sector.

Opinium Research surveyed 2,002 UK adults online for Barclaycard between November 29 and December 3.

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