A WALKDEN supermarket had to be closed down after more than 500 people turned up to bag a bargain in Black Friday sales.

The Tesco store at Ellesmere Shopping Centre in Walkden was shut amid safety fears after shoppers started grabbing goods.

Police say they have been called to seven Tesco stores across Greater Manchester after disturbances at sales events.

At Tesco in Central Park, Wigan, several hundred people tried to enter the store and two men were ejected before control was regained.

Police were also called to Tesco in Ashton Road West after 500 people turned up, while at the Tesco Extra in Stretford fights broke out between shoppers trying to get their hands on sale stock.

A woman suffered minor injuries after being hit by a falling television and the shop had to be closed at 12.36am - just over half an hour after the sale started.

At Tesco on Woodrow Way, Salford, one man was arrested on suspicion of assault after he threatened to “smash” a staff member’s face in.

Yesterday police were also called to Tesco Extra on Barton Road, Middleton, when 200 people refused to leave despite being told that stock had all gone and there were reports of fighting at the Tesco Extra in Stockport Road, Hattersley.

Black Friday is a US shopping craze that has recently spread to the UK in which shops offer large discounts on selected products to lure shoppers back into shops after Thanksgiving.

Several shops in Bolton have Black Friday offers today, and large queues formed outside Asda in Burnded Park this morning as shoppers arrived en masse to grab a bargain.

Black Friday is a big day for online retailers and Bolton-based Ao.com is expecting to record its busiest trading day in its 14 year history.

The online electrical retailer is predicting sales to be up five times on last year's effort and reported traffic levels on its website as up 1008 per cent on the same day in 2013.

Police chief Peter Fahy this morning condemned the actions of "large supermarkets", saying they needed to do more to prevent such problems.

He said: "The events of last night were totally predictable and I am disappointed that stores did not have sufficient security staff on duty.

"This created situations where we had to deal with crushing, disorder and disputes between customers.

"It does not help that this was in the early hours when police resources are already stretched.

"Across Greater Manchester large supermarkets already make significant demands on policing through calls to shoplifting, anti-social behaviour and thefts of fuel from their petrol stations - much of which is preventable.

"We just ask these stores to work with us to reduce the demands on policing and reduce the risks of disorder and crime."

This was the scene in Burnley:

More chaotic Black Friday scenes in Cardiff:

And in Bradford:

Fights broke out in America: