THE wet weather did not prevent hardy shoppers hunting for bargains as the Boxing Day sales got underway.

Retailers in Bolton reported bumper trading figures as customers took advantage of the cut price deals available at shops such as Next in the Market Place, which opened at 6am on Boxing Day, as well as BHS and JD Sports.

Experts predicted that 22 million people hit stores across the country, spending as much as £3.74 billion.

Paula Wood, centre manager at Crompton Place shopping centre, said: “Retailers always enjoy a good strong boost around Christmas, with Boxing Day always being one of our busiest trading days, and this year has certainly been no exception.

“The shopping centre was packed and there was a great atmosphere, with a lot of shoppers coming in to check out the deals and make their Christmas money go as far as possible.

“The sales season will continue across several stores in the New Year, so we expect to be enjoying positive business over the launch weekend and well into January.”

One store making the most of the bargain hunters was BHS, which was open from 8am to 7pm on Boxing Day.

Denise Isherwood, store manager, said: “It was really busy but we were all in pretty high spirits.

“The Boxing Day sale is always a big one for us and we’ve got offers on all departments across the store now so people are picking up some great buys.”

At JD Sports, staff launched their seasonal sale on Boxing Day morning and will keep the prices down through the New Year and until the sale stock is gone.

Ben Loftus, store manager, said: “Boxing Day was really busy and we had a lot of people looking for a bargain. We’ll keep those prices now through January and until the stock is all cleared.

“We had a really good run up to Christmas, definitely better than in previous years. We’ve had a steady increase in sales through home ordering too so the click and collect service has been good for bringing more people in store too.”

The tills were also ringing at shoe shop Clarks.

Zoe Charlton, assistant manager at the shop in Crompton Place, said: “We had a great day and will have taken easily double the normal takings for a day.

“We had a lot of lines already reduced that were then marked down again and that will continue now well into the New Year.”

Shoppers were also out in force yesterday, with the better weather encouraging people out to spend some money.

Ste Whittaker, aged 24, who lives in Farnworth, said: "I came in to have a look and picked up a few bargains. I do a lot of shopping online but its also good to have a look around."