Shoppers came out in force as stores recorded the best start to the winter sales in years.

Consumer spending is expected to be up on last year after crowds gathered to wait for stores to open yesterday.

About 300 people queued outside Next in Churchill Square Shopping Centre, Brighton, for its 5am opening.

Car parks at the centre were full by noon as people arrived to snap up bargains.

Next manager Jo Fardell said: "We are so busy we can't stock the shelves quickly enough. Some of the items are half-price and everything is selling. We have about 200 staff on to cope with it.

"It's definitely busier than last year and people are spending just as much as they did before Christmas."

Debenhams reported a record start to the sale, with between 50 and 100 people queueing at the doors for an 8.30am start.

Store manager Alan Schpot said about 250 members of staff were on hand to deal with the spending spree.

He said: "It will be a record day of sales in Brighton today. We are already well ahead of our predictions and we are definitely busier than last year.

"The restaurant is packed out with people sitting down to eat in between shopping. Our best-selling items are our designer clothing range and our home department is also doing very well.

"Consumer confidence is definitely up. We have had an excellent Christmas and the trend is continuing. People have not been put off by recent world events."

In Western Road, Brighton, about 50 shoppers waited for Marks & Spencer to open at 8.30am. Woolworths had about 100 people outside when it opened on Boxing Day.

In Eastbourne more than 200 people began waiting at 2am yesterday for the start of the Next sale at the Arndale Centre.

Centre manager Bill Plumridge said: "People were queuing outside the store, all the way back to Barclays Bank in the precinct. We opened the centre doors at 5am and they had been waiting outside."

Other large stores in the town remained busy on the first day of the sales, including Debenhams and Marks & Spencer.

At Worthing, one of the busiest was Debenhams, where a member of staff said the manager was too busy to talk because even she was helping out on one of the tills.

She added: "It has been really busy and there are queues at all the tills."

It was the same story at nearby Bentalls.

Shops in Chichester enjoyed a boom in sharp comparison to last year, when the city was threatened with flooding and many people stayed away.

Some traders had already reported a pre-Christmas increase in takings of almost 20 per cent on last year.

The city was packed on Boxing Day and again yesterday as people hunted for a bargain.