Thousands of shoppers mobbed Sussex shopping centres as the sales began in earnest.

Some businesses said they had enjoyed a busier first day than last year and people queued from 2.30am to snap up the best deals.

Despite healthy pre-Christmas takings, shoppers were more than ready to spend again.

Derek Maddison, manager at Churchill Square in Brighton said far more customers were going into the centre yesterday than on the first day of last year's sales.

He said: "There seems to be a lot more money around this year.

"We were very busy before the holiday as well. The week before Christmas was the best-ever for the centre and it looks like this is going to be a strong week as well."

Mr Maddison said the sales at Next and Debenhams were proving two of the biggest draws.

Next attracted the most committed shoppers with its early opening time of 5am.

One woman queued from 2.30am to ensure she was first in.

A spokeswoman for Next said: "By lunchtime we had had between 500 and 1,000 customers."

Woolworths in Western Road did good trade when it was one of the few city centre shops which opened up on Boxing Day.

Outside of the city centre, traders said while it was still busy, shoppers were less keen to spend.

Andrew Goodwin, at Silverado in the North Laine area of Brighton, said: "There are a lot of people wandering around but not that many are spending."

In other parts of the county, trade was equally brisk.

A spokeswoman for Next, in Montague Street, Worthing, said there were more than 50 people queueing outside at 5am.

At Eastbourne's Arndale Centre the post-Christmas sales were drawing shoppers in their hundreds.

More than 100 eager customers waited for the centre's doors to open at 9am yesterday.

Big retailers in the centre reported exceptionally high sales.

Back in Brighton, Hanningtons department store was bracing itself this morning for the first day of its sale.

Queues were expected when it opened at 9am.

The sale is the last winter sale before the store closes later next year.