MANY of Darlington's shops made record sales during the Christmas period, a report to the town centre forum shows.

The forecast for December 2002 was bleak, with retailers expecting a slump in sales, but Darlington bucked the trend to perform extremely well.

Members of Darlington Town Centre Forum will hear on Thursday how Sunday trading and late-night Christmas shopping helped to push profits up.

As a region, the North-East did well over Christmas and the South experienced a slump, which has led commercial forecasters to discuss a North/South divide in customer habits.

Although the run-up to Christmas was quiet, retailers, including HMV Darlington, beat their targets.

For Boots, last Christmas was the best ever festive period for the company, with the Darlington store outperforming the national figures and other Boots stores in the region.

In his report, John Buxton, Darlington Borough Council's director of development and environment, writes that events held over the Christmas period, including the Christingle Market and the Lantern Parade, helped boost sales in the town centre.

The town centre forum will consider the report on Thursday.