KEEN shoppers eager to pick up the best of the post-Christmas bargains began queuing outside Next on Skipton High Street from 5am on Wednesday.

The shop did not open until 6am but when staff arrived bargain hunters already stretched the length of the outside of the store.

Manager Allison Durkin said: "It was freezing cold. Why they were doing it I don't know?"

The tills rang all day and Mrs Durkin said she thought the shop had taken more than £70,000 on Wednesday alone.

"It was full all day. There was always a queue at the till," she said.

Thirty-six staff have been drafted in to cope with the customers, most working eight hour shifts.

Mrs Durkin expected the sale to last until this weekend but thought that by tomorrow (Saturday) some non-sale sock would already be out on the shelves.

Rackhams had one of its best first days of the sale ever on Wednesday according to store manager Christine Barker.

She said there were lots of bargain hunters especially buying homewares, pans, towels and glasses and thought that the television advertising campaign had helped sales significantly.

Mrs Barker said that the second day started slower because of the weather but she was still surprised to see how many people were in the town.

Elsewhere Dorothy Perkins on the High Street also enjoyed a busy first day of the sales.

Manager Lyn Martin said: "It has gone very well, better than my expectations and better than I had planned for the day."

She added that she had called on students home from university to help out with the rush.

In New Look manager Jane Riley said: "It has been really, really busy absolutely packed out."

She added that the store had been busy throughout the Christmas period.