LIVERPOOL was last night enjoying a last-minute flurry of Christmas shopping as stores moved into sales mode.

Retailers were keen to maximise the amount of money spent during the festive season as they face up to a very tough first quarter of next year.

City centre boss Ged Gibbons said business was “manic” in the final run-up to Christmas.

It came after bad weather and drastic public transport cuts hit shops earlier this week.

But the city’s habit of a last-minute sales surge remained.

John Lewis, in Liverpool One, reported spending for this week was 36% up on last week.

Isabella Miller, the store’s managing director, said: “Liverpool is notorious for its late Christmas shopping.

“Challenging weather hit our late-night trading, but we had a 36% uplift in sales this week compared to last.

“But the week compared with last year was 5.9% down, which was a weather thing.

“Womenswear and menswear has sold well. We have terrific sales in childrenswear and Barbour jackets. Gifts and accessories had a record day on Wednesday.

“Nostalgic games and retro toys such as yo-yos, space hoppers and whoopee-cushions have been big sellers.

“Old-fashioned chrome-look radios have gone well and the new generation of iPods are popular.

“When customers like a product, they love to stick with it by upgrading.”