Queues of several thousand bargain hunters were reported

The John Lewis store in London's Oxford Street and Manchester's Trafford Centre were both swamped before doors opened.

Their strong trading figures were repeated elsewhere on the third day of post-Christmas sales, and Tesco reported strong online grocery sales.

Record numbers of retailers started off the sales frenzy by opening their doors on Boxing Day for the first time.

'Busier than ever'

A spokesman for the Trafford Centre said a third of its 10,500 parking spaces were full by 1100 GMT - an hour before opening time.

More and more people hold off spending just before Christmas, ask for money for Christmas and then spend the cash on the sales Lisa Andrews, John Lewis

General manager Andy Orr said it had been busier than ever this year.

He said: "We had 85,000 people yesterday. Today it has also been really busy and we expect to meet or break our Sunday record of 88,000, which we achieved just before Christmas.

"We have had a lot of families coming in looking for bargains and anything they can get their hands on."

Lisa Andrews, a spokeswoman for John Lewis, said customers seemed to be delaying buying new items until the sales started, a trend which the store was starting to experience every year.

"Lots of people have had money and vouchers to spend from Christmas", she said.

"More and more people hold off spending just before Christmas, ask for money for Christmas and then spend the cash on the sales."

She said a queue of 200 shoppers had formed 45 minutes before the store opened.

Digital explosion

Most of the bargains to be had at the Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent were in fashion, according to spokesman Alan Jones.

He said customers arrived 90 minutes before opening.

Digital items have been a particular success story this Christmas with shoppers opting for everything from DVD to mobile phones.

It's been a record Christmas for internet shopping Tesco.com Internet sales hit festive record

Jessops photographic store, in Birmingham's Bullring centre, said it had been "a tremendous Christmas" for sales of digital cameras in particular.

Brand development director Simon Powell told BBC News: "There's no doubt the interest rate rise back in November did dent consumer confidence but after that, Christmas really picked up and we've had tremendous sales on the back of digital products. "The final few days before Christmas - the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday - were excellent. There were more and more consumers on the high street as they were shopping later and later.

'Horrendous traffic'

A spokesman for AA Roadwatch said traffic was quieter on Sunday than it had been the day before when it had been "horrendous" around shopping areas.

"It might be that people are still spending time with their families, that the weather is not that nice, or that a lot of people did all their shopping yesterday", he added.

The successful Christmas for stores was mirrored by purchases made on the internet over the same period.

Tesco.com said more UK households bought their festive groceries online this year than ever before.

The website says an extra 30% of shoppers bought their turkeys online while it had also delivered 1 million mince pies and two million sprouts.

A Tesco.com spokeswoman said: "It's been a record Christmas for internet shopping."