'BLACK Friday' brought big crowds of bargain hunters into Worcester with some shops opening for 'midnight' trade.

Like it or loathe it, this particular American import looks set to stay, having shouldered its way irreversibly into the British retailing lexicon.

Just in case you were in any doubt that Worcester retailers had embraced the concept, almost every shop contained colossal billboards with the words 'Black Friday' emblazoned on them.

With the Victorian Christmas Fayre in full swing in Worcester (and expecting up to 140,000 people in the city over the weekend), Black Friday brought even more people into the city looking for deals.

Long queues were reported outside Game in Broad Street as early as Thursday evening as customers tried to pick up some savings ahead of Christmas.

The store opened at 8pm on Thursday and closed at 3am the following morning.

The store manager at Game in Worcester said: “We knew that on Black Friday many people would want to get their hands on on our market-leading deals, and get gaming, as quickly as possible.

"Therefore on Thursday night we made the decision to open over 300 Game stores from 8pm.

"Not only did Game Worcester open at 8pm, but it stayed open until 3am and then reopened at 7am this morning."

Most of the major retailers in Worcester have bought into the concept with 30 per cent discounts on offer at Debenham's and M&S in the High Street and up to 50 per cent off products in Joules, also in the High Street.

House of Fraser in the CrownGate Shopping Centre offered up to 50 per cent off while HMV offered 'crazy deals' this weekend.

However, not all Worcester News readers were fans, judging by the comments on the Worcester News Facebook site.

Dawn Bartley said: “Would rather tattoo goldfish on my eyeballs. Why do we need to adopt yet another Americanism?

“Americanised Halloween has already taken over, now black Friday is taking hold, next year, we'll be told to have thanksgiving too.

“Oh my, however did we manage beforehand??? Lol."

Siân Davis said she was “busy sleeping” when the shops opened while Liza Crabtree said of the biggest shopping day of the year: “I'd rather tattoo my teeth.”

Sophia Sofocleous wrote: “Thought Black Friday was an American thing.”

Retailers made cut-price deals available online from midnight and many shops changed their opening hours to offer customers more time to snap up discounted stock, ranging from televisions to toothbrushes.

It is expected that customers could spend their way to the UK's first £1 billion in online shopping.

Tesco, which opened many of its stores at 5am, had installed queuing systems and assured shoppers there would be enough security and stock following scuffles over limited numbers of items last year.

Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, has warned that the majority of Black Friday deals "aren't special" and advised shoppers to cross-check deals with items they actually need.