SHOPPERS swarmed Uxbridge at the weekend in their efforts to snap up Christmas bargains, with the town's two shopping centres reporting a surge in sales.
Despite the heavy rain on Saturday, car parks were full as customers scrambled to make the most of reductions and bag a bargain.
Michelle Moffitt, marketing manager at The Chimes, said: "We were extremely busy on both Saturday and Sunday.
"We had thousands of shoppers, and I know that the car park was full early on which is a good indication to how busy it was."
John Palmer, manager of the Mall Pavilions, said: "We were heaving, it was one of our busiest weekends, it seems we were on a par with last year.
"Our retailers are very consistent, while luxury goods are not doing as well, some of the shops you would expect to do well at Christmas have increased sales.
"The Entertainer, Marks & Spencer, TK Maxx, Wilkinsons are all doing very well.
"Next week we will be even busier still, we'll have all the dads out doing their last minute shopping."
It wasn't all good news for traders however, with the bad weather affecting outdoor shops at a crucial time in the year.
Frank Harris, chairman of the Windsor Street Traders Association, said: "The weekend was terrible, when it rains everyone stays in the precincts.
"There aren't enough signs up in town, nobody knows we're here.
"Traders are 10-30 per cent down on last year, so many people are out of work, so they can't afford to use the shops.
"We are all worried about next year and how much our rents are going to increase by, it isn't a good time."
