EXCITED shoppers queued for hours to make sure they were the first to get back in to their favourite stores after three months of closure.

At one stage yesterday morning a line of hundreds snaked its way along Western Road, up the hill in Marlborough Street, and around the corner in Upper North Street outside Primark.

One passerby said it looked like people were queueing for a festival.

Meanwhile elsewhere in Brighton there were also large queues for Sports Direct in North Street which was offering a discount for NHS workers.

Inside Churchill Square shopping centre, lines of eager shoppers also stretched outside retailers including Zara, Urban Outfitters, HMV and Topshop.

It followed the decision by the Government to relax the lockdown rules which had been put in place for the coronavirus crisis.

Non-essential stores could open their doors to shoppers for the first time in three months, with many offering huge discounts and sales items.

Among those in the queue outside Primark was Michelle Barton, from Portslade, with her granddaughter Amy McSweeney.

She told The Argus she could not wait to get in: “It’s my husband’s birthday on Friday and he needs new clothes. I’ve been driving him mad.

“I’m looking for a few bargains, it’s marvellous.”

Lucy Doherty, from the Lewes Road area of Brighton, also joined the queue with her friend Olivia Young. She said: “I do think it’s important for shops to be opening, I can’t imagine how much money shops have lost during lockdown.”

New dad Tim Bentley from Hove went to look for baby clothes for his four-month-old.

He said: “It has been tough trying to find clothes as there are no real stores that do it.

“Now that Primark is open, this is the first place we planned to come to.”

Kirstie Phillips from Shoreham said: “I knew the line would be big but I didn’t realise it would be up the street and all the way around the corner.”

Sarah McCrimmon from Steyning queued outside Sports Direct for nearly an hour to get in.

The NHS neuropsychologist said: “I think shops reopening is good for the economy. It might take some getting used to again and some people will have concerns.

“Stores have done really well and been mindful about getting things open safely.”