THE second day of the sales saw people queueing out the door to get their hands on a bargain in Worcester.

Thousands packed the city centre yesterday – a welcome change for many retailers who lost out due to the bad weather in the run-up to Christmas.

There was also a significant rise in the numbers of large items sold as people grab what they can before the VAT rise on Tuesday, January 4.

The VAT rises are also set to heap more misery on motorists as a survey of petrol stations proves people in Worcester are still paying high prices at the pumps.

Erica Burlace, CrownGate Shopping Centre manager, said: “There has been a visible sigh of relief today as shoppers flood into CrownGate, making the most of the break in the cold snap and in store discounts.

“CrownGate retailers are generally experiencing a significant increase in sales against the same period last year. Some larger retailers are seeing phenomenal uplifts across the region, particularly on larger price items due to people wanting to make savings before the VAT increase in January. The car park numbers are always a good indicator and we have been full all day.”

Sales are also on the up for Worcester’s smaller businesses.

Jenny Plant, owner of independent boutique Stripes in Foregate Street, said: “We have been really busy – and we were really busy on Christmas Eve as well. We have been surprised by quite how busy it has been though, with it being a bank holiday.

“It is really good and positive, although it is too early to say whether it will make up for last week. We are selling a lot online which has already made up for some of the lost footfall.”

There has been a knock-on effect for other businesses in the city centre – such as coffee shops, which have welcomed people in from the cold.

Ali Cokaj, manager of Cafe Bolero on St Nicholas Street, hopes people keep flooding in over the next week to make up for last week’s disappointment.

He said: “It has been really good – a bit better than normal. Before Christmas we were quiet. But you can’t complain, because of the snow.”

But people are unlikely to find bargains at the petrol pumps. Nationally, the cost of fuel this month has overtaken the record set in May this year and prices are continuing to climb over the festive period.

We found that the price of unleaded is as much as 129.9p per litre in Worcester – 7.8p more than the national average of 122.1p –and it’s the same story for diesel, which is as high as 132.9p in the city compared to 126.2p elsewhere.

This is also higher than the average for fuel in the West Midlands, with a report by the AA showing unleaded prices as about 122.1p and diesel 126.1p.

But there was some good news with petrol stations now reporting plenty of fuel, following last week’s shortages caused by fuel tankers getting stuck in the snow.