SHOPPERS left their bargain hunting to the last minute and this led to a busy Christmas for traders and shops.

Shrewd customers kept an eye on the best deals before snapping up gifts in time for Christmas morning.

Woolworths, Bellegrove Road, Welling, reported a very busy period immediately prior to Christmas, despite not starting its sales until Boxing Day.

Store manager Nicola Punnett said: "This year we found people were doing their shopping a lot later in the year and seemed to be buying their gifts at the last minute.

"I think it was because shoppers like to shop around for the best bargains and they were keeping an eye on the prices before committing themselves."

The store slashed prices by half on December 26 which saw large amounts of homewares and toys being sold as customers made use of their gift vouchers.

Trade also sped up ahead of the big day at The Mall shopping centre, Broadway, Bexleyheath.

Marketing assistant Chris Barton said: "December 22 and December 23 were extremely busy, much busier than Christmas Eve in fact.

"This followed the same trend as last year, possibly because people were looking at Friday as Christmas Eve.

"Not many of our stores began their sales early.

"We opened on Boxing Day for the first time this year and 33 of our 60 retailers opened in total it was pretty quiet compared to the previous week."

Mrs Barton added: "I don't think it was the case shoppers were holding out for the sales this year."

Retail analyst FootFall recorded a 2.6 per cent rise in the number of UK shoppers between December 10 and December 17 compared to a normal week.

Marketing manager Natasha Burton said: "This year the retailers seem to have done their job well in the preceding weeks with flash promotions and targeted sales."

However, overall shopping levels for the same period were down by 5.9 per cent compared with figures for last year.