POLICE and shopping centres are stepping up security as thousands of shoppers are expected to descend on stores across Hampshire on Black Friday.

Last year up to 100,000 bargain-hunters packed Southampton city centre, with many thousands more sweeping into centres across Hampshire.

There were ugly scenes as shoppers grappled over items in the aisles.

In some Tesco outlets police were called when shelves were stripped bare and crowds surged through doors as they opened.

Asda and Aldi announced their stores would not participate in the bargain event this year and WestQuay shopping centre has abandoned its early opening hours but will be open until 10pm while many shops in the Marlands Centre will throw open their doors at 8.30am to capitalise on the early surge.

But Whiteley Shopping Centre announced the day will be “less Hunger Games and more friendly supermarket sweep” – a reference to a dystopian film starring Jennifer Lawrence.

Hampshire Police said it is braced for bumper crowds and is modifying shift patterns to ensure it has enough officers to deal with the increased business.

Superintendent James Fulton, said: “Our city centre unit is well-prepared to deal with any increased demand on Black Friday and at the weekend.

“We have plans in place and officers’ shifts have been altered to help deal with the increased amount of shoppers expected.

“We are treating this like any other busy shopping period such as the run up to Christmas where we see an influx of shoppers in the city.”

Winchester City Council says it is expecting hundreds of thousands of shoppers over Christmas and is increasing its park-and-ride services, with buses running every 10 minutes.

Daily Echo:

Stewart Dunn, chief executive of Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, said he was wary of the idea of a huge surge of shopping over a short period of time.

He said: “From a business perspective they can’t really keep the level of service that they like to do and and the end of the day the service is not as good as it should be.”

Southampton City Council has warned of increased traffic and advises motorists to plan well in advance if they are travelling into the city to find discount items.