HUNDREDS of customers embraced Black Friday at one Bradford store this morning, with some queuing overnight to ensure getting their hands on a bargain.

The day kicks off the predicted biggest ever weekend of shopping in the UK, with consumers expected to spend almost £8 billion on deals over the next four days.

Shoppers are predicted to spend just under £2.6 billion today alone - an eight per cent increase overall on last year - and £7.8 billion over the four-day period including Cyber Monday, up seven per cent on last year, according to predictions by VoucherCodes and the Centre for Retail Research (CRR).

Robert Mucha, general manager of Sonic Megastore Ltd, on Ingleby Road, said the queue outside the store was already 100-strong when he arrived at 7am.

He said: "Our first customer had queued from 8.30pm last night, and when we opened at 8am I would estimate that the queue had at least doubled.

"We had around 50 door-buster offers, but with this being a week-long event, we are changing our offers and deals daily over the weekend and into next week.

"Our website traffic has gone bonkers as well, the warehouse guys are going to be very busy for the next few days as our online click and collect orders have gone through the roof. Again our online offers change almost daily and the Black Friday event is online for the next week as well.

"All in all it's been a very successful morning, our customers have once again certainly embraced the event."

A number of big-name chains such as John Lewis, Game, Tesco, and Argos have extended their high street opening hours, and many retailers have already offered days of deals in a bid to maximise hype and spending around the global event.

Catherine Riley, manager of The Kirkgate Centre in Bradford, said: "We’ve been very busy today. The car park is packed and it looks like people are really taking advantage of the amazing deals we have on offer.

"We are open until 9pm this evening, but for those who can’t make it down today, the deals are extending into the weekend.

"Black Friday seems to increase year-on-year within the retail industry and we love to see our customers getting great deals.

“There are some excellent deals at both of our perfume retailers, until tomorrow, perfect for Christmas gift shopping.

"The clothing stores have been packed all day with people enjoying new outfits for a fraction of the price. Really, the deals from across the centre overall have resulted in very happy shoppers.”

The UK spends more money during the Black Friday to Cyber Monday event than in any other weekend of the year, new figures from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) based on a billion bank transactions show.

Last year shoppers spent more than £900 million more on debit cards compared to an average weekend, with the most intense increase in spending seen in the 45 to 65-year-old age group.