SHOPPERS arrived at some stores from as early as 3am on Boxing Day to hunt for bargains in the post-Christmas sales.

Stores in some of Scotland’s largest shopping centres opened their doors early in the hope of attracting early-bird customers.

Despite frosty weather, many outlets reported a buoyant day’s trading and that the cold snap had encouraged shoppers to upgrade their winter wardrobes.

Ryan Manson, general manager of Union Square in Aberdeen, said shoppers queued from 5am for the launch of the Next sale.

He added: “The annual Boxing Day sales are marked as an important date in the diary for shoppers and it has continued to be so for residents of Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire this year.

“Union Square saw bargain-hunters queuing from just after 5am for the launch of the Next sale, while Starbucks offered the first 300 customers before 11am a free tea or coffee.

“Many people will use Boxing Day as an opportunity to treat themselves, with this year seeing customers spending more on investment items such as jewellery.

“Many shoppers are spending quality time with family and friends, choosing to enjoy their Boxing Day at one of our many restaurants or grabbing a bite before heading off to catch the new Star Wars film.”

More than 1000 people queued outside Silverburn shopping centre in Glasgow from 4.45am.

David Pierotti, General Manager at Silverburn, said: “As ever Boxing Day is a big event for Glasgow shoppers eager to bag some of the fantastic deals and discounts on offer.

“An early start was on the cards for some of our more enthusiastic shoppers attending the Next sale, which opened at 5:30am.

Again, we have seen strong sales of our gift cards, which are becoming increasingly popular at Silverburn.”

He continued, “For many of our shoppers Boxing Day is an opportunity to treat themselves, as well as spending quality time with family and friends at one of our restaurants or enjoying a film at our 14 screen Cineworld.”

Glasgow’s intu Braehead saw queues throughout the centre and extra staff on shift to deal with the workload.

People queued from 5am for the Next store to open at 6am.

Regional centre director Peter Beagley said: “Santa was hardly back home at the North Pole with his feet up having a Christmas mince pie when eager shoppers were queuing up at intu Braehead for the Boxing Day sales.

“Our River Island store began trading at 7am, which was an hour earlier than the centre’s official opening time of 8am.

“And the army of early birds out to bag the best of the bargains was just the advanced party, because intu Braehead just got busier as Boxing Day went on.

“There were huge queues in the centre coming from Lush, Next and River Island stores at 8am and several hours later there was still the same length of queue, as more shoppers joined the queues just as quickly as others were being served.”

“We had extra staff on duty to direct traffic as the free car parks quickly filled up and we were busy all day.

Beagley also said not everyone was there just to shop. “People were keen to have a festive experience, staying longer to enjoy the cafes, restaurants and leisure attractions we have on offer, as well as getting great deals from our stores.”