News Beat
Last-minute Christmas shoppers in Darlington and Newcastle
People descended on high streets, shopping malls and retail parks across the region.
In Newcastle, Northumberland Street was packed as pedestrians wrapped up warm to evade the cold.
The Metrocentre was reportedly bursting with shoppers and the car park at the retail park on Yarm Road in Darlington was busy with cars.
This weekend will be the last chance for many to pick up festive presents ahead of Christmas Day on Thursday.
It comes after newly released figures revealed that retail sales dropped last month after Black Friday deals failed to impress shoppers.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the total volume of retail sales is estimated to have fallen by 0.1% in November.
This follows a 0.9% drop in October, and was a surprise decline as most analysts had been expecting a 0.4% increase for the month.
Supermarket sales fell for the fourth month in a row, by 0.5% in November, with retailers reporting a lower number of shoppers coming to stores.
The ONS also said the effect of Black Friday – with discounts typically stretching well beyond the specific end-of-November date – appeared to be slightly weaker this year than usual.
It was a disappointing month for non-store retailers – which primarily includes online shops but also sellers like street stalls and markets – with sales dropping by 2.9%.
ONS senior statistician Hannah Finselbach said: “This year November’s Black Friday discounts did not boost sales as much as in some recent years, meaning that once we adjust for usual seasonality, our headline figures fell a little on the month.
“Meanwhile, our separate household survey showed that although some people said they were planning to do more shopping this Black Friday than last, almost twice as many said they were planning to do less.”
