ALMOST 100,000 Christmas shoppers flocked to Southampton’s WestQuay Shopping Centre on Thursday, making it the complex’s busiest day of the year so far.

The last-minute festive shopping spree means the centre has reported an 8.5 per cent rise in footfall this week on the same time last year.

General manager Andy Collyer said last night he was hopeful today would again see many people hitting the shops.

He said: “It’s very busy in the centre today and we are expecting even more shoppers tomorrow, as people take the opportunity to finish last-minute shopping on Christmas Eve.

“WestQuay has seen an extremely busy seasonal trading period, welcoming almost 2.5 million shoppers since Monday, November 21.”