SHOPPERS rushed out across the region in search of Boxing Day bargains yesterday.

Traffic tailbacks to get into the MetroCentre at Gateshead started before 8am, with shoppers reporting a 45-minute wait for a parking space.

About 260 of the 350 shops opened, with some offering up to 75 per cent discounts.

A centre spokeswoman said: "There are a lot of shops that do not even open until the 27th, but it has not stopped the crowds.

"The traffic and crowds are terrible, and it is only going to get worse over the coming days."

Nicola Little, 21, from Gateshead, said: "I usually come shopping on Boxing Day every year, and this is the busiest I have ever seen it.

"I hate the crowds but the chance to bag a few bargains is too hard to resist."

More than 100 stores at The Bridges shopping centre, in Sunderland, began their sales yesterday, with thousands of customers hunting for bargains.

Centre director Phil Steele said: "Our retailers have told us there was an increase in sales of up to five per cent this month compared with December last year, which is busier than the retailers expected."

However, in Newcastle city centre, shoppers were left kicking their heels, with about 150 shops in Eldon Square not opening until today.

In Darlington, shoppers queued outside clothes shops to be the first to get their hands on bargains.

About 30 people were waiting outside New Look, in the Cornmill Shopping Centre, before the store opened at 10am.

A centre spokeswoman said trade had been steady at most shops, with some music and computer gaming stores, including HMV, exceptionally busy.

Early-bird shoppers will get a second chance to be the first to grab a bargain today, with Darlington's Next shop starting its sale at 5am.

Staff at Barker and Stonehouse were handing out flasks of tea to the first 20 shoppers at its stores.

Stephen Baxter, the assistant manager at the Middlesbrough store, said: "We have had a very good day, a lot more business that last year.

"I would say we have had 6,700 people through the doors today. Boxing Day is always a big queue day.

"If last year is any indication, we are going to be busier tomorrow, with people having measured up and saying they will return tomorrow."

Tracey Sainsbury, the manager of the Debenhams store in Middlesbrough, said: "The queue outside the shop was very, very long. Womenswear, as ever, is the most popular, with children's after that. I am very pleased with the way things have gone today."

In York, shoppers flocked to the city's out-of-town retail parks.

York Designer Outlet was "very busy", while a spokesman for Monks Cross, at Huntington, said there were queues for the car park.