Fishergate shopping centre Pic: Tony Worrall

A Preston shopping centre says it has seen more people flocking through the doors during the Christmas period.

The Fishergate Shopping Centre says five per cent more people visited the centre than in week before Christmas the previous year.

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It was the busiest the centre has been since Christmas 2010, with Christmas week seeing more than 220,000 people heading into the city centre shopping centre.

Keith Mitchell, manager of the Fishergate Centre, said: “Things got off to a massive start with Black Friday, which saw a 15 per cent rise in visitor numbers. That whole weekend was tremendously busy.

“The last two weeks of the Christmas period were also hectic, building up to our best week in terms of visitors since 2010.

“Christmas Eve and Boxing Day also saw strong increases on last year as people went in hunt of bargains.

“The figures have been exceptional and have set things up nicely for the start of 2015. We’re looking forward to the year with some confidence and we’re really excited by the potential for further growth.

“Overall during Christmas we’ve seen large increases in sales figures across the centre, not just in gifts but in sectors such as food. It really is a positive picture.”

The shopping centre is owned by equity firm Benson Elliot who have pumped money into boosting the centre’s online presence and social media tools – which they say are driving more people off their computers and into the shops.

Anna Iaverdino, manager at TK Maxx, said they had enjoyed a strong festive period.

She said: “We’ve had a cracking Christmas, it has really been good for us and that’s reflected in our figures.

“We’ve seen a lot of work by the centre this year in terms of its branding and with promotions and competitions and it seems to be paying off in terms of attracting shoppers.

“The centre’s parking initiative which we saw through the festive period was also a great help to all the retailers and there’s no doubt it helped bring people in.”

The Fishergate Centre joined the free after 3pm scheme to allow periods of free parking in the run up to Christmas.

Do you visit the Fishergate Centre? What do you think of it? Let us know in the comments below