SHOPPERS went looking for late Christmas bargains in their droves.

Big brands slashed prices for what was one of the busiest shopping days of the year – and even more money is set to be spent in coming days.

Shops and cafes in south Essex reported people pouring through their doors in search of presents, and a minute or two to put their feet up.

Lisa, a product manager at River Island store, in High Street, Southend, said staff had been rushed off their feet since Friday.

She said: “We’ve all been very, very busy.

“We’ve been run off our feet and we can see from outside the window that it’s been generally very busy in town as well.

“It really all went off from Friday, that was a very busy day for us, and we’ve just done really well all weekend, absolutely rushed off our feet.”

High Street cafe Patisserie Valerie also reported being “solidly busy” all weekend, with staff struggling to keep up with the volume of customers, while ice cream parlour Creams, on London Road, said business had been “manic”.

Business partner Tee Sheikh said: “We’ve been packed since 1pm on Friday when the schools shut.

Echo:

“It’s been manic since then.

“The Christmas rush has definitely arrived.

“We’ve had a lot of families, mums and daughters and dads and sons, there has generally been a lot of kids running around.

“We’ve been rushed off our feet.”

The Centre for Retail Research said 13 million shoppers were set to spend £2.1million for every minute the shops were open on lastminute gifts and groceries, at an average of £92.31 per person.

Visa Europe said tomorrow will be the UK’s busiest high street shopping day ahead of Christmas, with £1.3billion expected to be spent.

The Centre for Retail Research has predicted instore sales will reach £4.74billion over the five days before Christmas, a 21 per cent increase on last year.