SALES fever gripped the region yesterday as shoppers came out in force to bag the bargains on offer.

Darlington and Middlesbrough town centres were full, with bargain hunters battling their way through the chaos to get to sale items in scenes repeated across the region.

At the MetroCentre, in Gateshead, 22,000 shoppers piled inside within half an hour of the main doors opening.

Keen bargain hunters had been queueing in near-freezing temperatures since the early hours for the Next sale, which started at 5am.

Shopper Lee Nicholson, 28, made the early-morning journey from Middlesbrough to be at the start of the queue.

He said: "It might seem mad to go shopping at that hour, but I've been after a jacket for months and I promised myself I'd get one in the sales.

"It was quite good fun in the queue.

"We kept each others' spirits up in the cold.

"My old jacket has come in handy because it was literally freezing out there," he added.

House of Fraser and Marks and Spencer also opened their doors early.

MetroCentre managers were expecting the number of shoppers to reach - and even exceed - last week's figure of 128,000.

A spokesman said: "We are expecting the first day of the sales to be the busiest day of the year so far."

Shoppers were out in force in York, with hundreds braving the frosty temperatures, some from as early as 3am, to queue for huge discounts in the city centre and at Monks Cross.

But as other shops across the city were bracing themselves to do a roaring trade, the Archbishop of York spoke out to question the "sanity" of the shopping mania gripping Britain, and hit out at shops which chose to open on Christmas Day.

"I find this development depressing and dispiriting," said Dr David Hope.

"We need to restore our sanity as human beings. God has ordained we should have rest and recreation."

In London, major stores such as Selfridges, Hamleys and Liberty said it was unusually quiet. That trend was also reflected in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, where Charles Barker, boss of Barker's Department Store, said the sale was slow to get going but had picked up later.

Among the most keenly-awaited items to hit the shelves was a range of Harry Potter toys released yesterday.