RETAILERS in the North-East last night said they were having a bumper Christmas, confounding gloomy predictions that rising interest rates and economic worries would deter shoppers.

Shopping centres across the region reported a surge of bargain-hunters looking to take advantage of pre-Christmas sales.

The last-minute rush was expected to make up for slow trading earlier in the month, as shops enticed customers with discounts and offers on the biggest shopping weekend of the year.

At Gateshead's MetroCentre, more than 10,000 eager customers were in the building two hours before stores started trading.

A spokesman said: "People were queuing to get into the car parks before 9am. And before 11am, when trading laws allow shops to open, there were at least 10,500 people in the centre."

The centre also had four police officers on duty specifically to deal with the volume of traffic.

The Cornmill Centre, in Darlington, saw 36,000 people pass through its doors on Saturday.

Manager Albion Small said: "There have been some very successful shops -Ottakar's book store, The Officer's Club and HMV have all done brilliantly.

"The area that seems to have been a bit slack is ladies' fashion. The winter stock came in October, but we had a warm November and things just haven't sold."

Middlesbrough town centre was also packed, with Rotary Club events proving a big attraction for the Cleveland Centre.

One theory for the High Streets being quiet until now was that workers who get paid before Christmas had left it until they had the money to buy most of their presents.

The post-Christmas sales will now be crucial, according to David Southwell of the British Retail Consortium.

He said: "A lot of promotions you are seeing are buy one, get one free deals and reductions on selected items. That is not the same as what you will see in the January sales.

"Time will tell where the bargains will be, but shoppers should certainly keep an eye on clothing, because retailers have a lot of stock to shift.

"It has been unseasonably warm and a lot of people have put off buying their winter wardrobe."