A SHOPPING centre says it has bucked the national trend by having a bumper Christmas.

Managers at the Middleton Grange Shopping Centre, in Hartlepool, said more than 45,000 shoppers visited the precinct in one day during the Christmas period.

Managers at the centre are also celebrating the reopening of a Jonathan James shoe shop yesterday, after a £50,000 revamp.

Centre manager Cormac Hamilton said: "We work hard to maintain high standards throughout the centre and retailers have a major part to play in this by keeping their stores in first class condition. The work on Jonathan James has really enhanced the centre."