Panic Saturday sees last minute shopping before Christmas

Black Friday was followed by Panic Saturday, which saw UK consumers spend 1.2 billion pounds on the last Saturday before Christmas.

Some 13 million consumers will be shopping for gifts and groceries, said the Centre for Retail Research (CRR).

The CRR predicts in-store sales will reach 4.7 billion pounds over the 5 days before Christmas - a 21 percent increase on 2013.

Department stores can expect to double their takings this weekend, according to a payments processing company.

Commercial manager for John Lewis' Oxford Street branch, Clare Scantlebury said: "The key difference here is the later fall of Christmas so we know that strength in trade will continue right through to Christmas Eve."

Consumer analyst Sue Hayward said: "People are starting to get a little more money in their pockets. We are seeing things like petrol and food prices slightly down.

"It is important for the retailers that they entice people into spending this money rather than obviously paying off their mortgage which may be the sensible option."