Retailers have begun their post-Christmas sales earlier than ever this year amidst hopes that bad weather and travel disruptions will not put shoppers off in the vital selling period before the new year.

Many large stores opened early on Boxing Day although online retailers were even quicker off the mark, with some starting their sales on Christmas Eve.

Analysts from Experian said that, although footfall had dropped 7.6% in the week leading up to Christmas, this was largely due to the increasing popularity of online sales. However, Boxing Day saw shoppers queuing from 6am outside stores, with as many as 3,500 people waiting for Selfridges to open, according to Sky News.

Meanwhile, Ipsos Retail Performance has predicted that footfall this December will be 0.6% higher than last December, which would be the first positive footfall on the high street for a year.