BARGAIN hunters flocked to Blackburn today for the start of the Christmas sales season.

First to be besieged was the town's Next store which opened its doors at 6am to be greeted by a flurry of early birds keen to snap up cut-price goods.

But most stores were sticking to their normal opening hours.

A spokesman for Blackburn Shopping Centre said: "There was quite a rush around 6am when Next opened but it died down, although we're expecting it to get very busy."

Police said there was some congestion around Whitebirk yesterday, when some of the out-of-town retailers opened. But they said they expected traffic to be worse today.