Harrods will extend its festive opening hours

Harrods is to extend trading hours during its annual January sales next year and will keep its doors open for an hour longer than normal in the first week of its four-week discount bonanza.

Harrods is to extend trading hours during its annual January sales next year and will keep its doors open for an hour longer than normal in the first week of its four-week discount bonanza.

A spokesman for the store in Knightsbridge, London, confirmed yesterday that the company had decided to open later during the post-Christmas sell-off.

However, Usdaw, the shop workers' union, warned that the move was bad news for staff, particularly those working for the fashion concessions that have space inside the department store.

A spokesman for the store said: "We have decided to extend our opening times for the first week of the sale from 8pm to 9pm really to give it some consistency.In the past we have opened until 9pm on the first Monday of the sale and the following Saturday but shut at 8pm in the intervening days."

The move will give the store four extra hours of trading. The spokesman said that staff schedules and rotas would be changed accordingly. "Clearly if the store is open for longer hours then we need the co-operation of concessions," the spokesman said.

Chris Hope of Usdaw said the union was no longer recognised by Harrods and that it was not aware of the plan to open longer during the sales.The sale will start on 3 January.