SHOPPERS hitting the streets for the New Year sales have given a welcome boost to city retailers as they prepare for a traditionally quiet period.

Stores were busy as the bout of bargain hunting which began on Boxing Day continued this week. It comes at a crucial time for many shops as they aim to end the festive trading period on a high.

Exeter city centre manager John Harvey said he expected more busy scenes.

"Boxing Day kick-started the sales period and the whole of last week was very busy," he said.

"That's important because clearly a good post-Christmas sales period is a very positive base from which to move into the new year, so I'm very satisfied with how it's gone. There has been some fairly serious spending going on, and that chimes with the comments from a number of store managers who have been fairly upbeat. I would expect it to continue through this week, perhaps a little quieter as schools return, and I would expect the weekend to be busy again.

"The further we get into the month the quieter it will get, but I'm expecting brisk trading to continue for some time yet."

James Clarke, manager of Marks & Spencer in Exeter High Street, said he was pleased with how the post-Christmas sales had gone.

He said: "We have had a lot of traffic through the store, as we would normally expect. We were pleased with the results of opening on Boxing Day for the first time in Exeter.

"From a sale point of view we are trading as we expected."

Amanda Leach, manager of independent gifts and lifestyle shop Insideout in Princesshay, said: "We've been busy since we reopened after Christmas on December 27, and a lot of it was keen sales shoppers, though we don't have a huge sale.

"It's quietened down in town since people went back to work.

"Some of the bigger shops have a second round of markdowns the second week after Christmas, so some people will come in for that, but we are now planning for Valentine's Day as our next big event."

The sales boost came too late for some retailers, with the city's Hawkin's Bazaar having closed and La Senza holding a closing down sale.