MUSIC Zone stores in the region have helped the company to sales of more than £1m in a day's trading for the first time in its 20-year history.

Despite most retailers experiencing a dismal Christmas, described as the worst for ten years, Music Zone recorded a rise in like-for-like sales for the four weeks before Christmas of 17.9 per cent. Overall sales rose by 30.1 per cent.

The chain of 55 outlets, which has ten stores in the region, including in Darlington, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Durham, saw strong growth in sharp contrast to market predictions that pre-Christmas sales in home entertainment were slow and retail in general was suffering from a lack of spending.

Music Zone commercial director Eren Ozagir said: "We are in no doubt that our approach is working because these figures will astonish our competitors, although they are no surprise to us.

"We did not panic over the Christmas period and, as we expected, there was a huge surge in the final days."

He said the sales performance was due to competitive prices on best-sellers such as Robbie Williams Greatest Hits and the DVD of the first series of Little Britain.