Panic buying, Church warnings, sales brought forward, early mornings...it's Chriiiiistmaaaaaas!

Richard Dodd, head of media and campaigns at the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said:

"People have left it very late this year because of their reluctance to spend. They are holding out for bargains."

Of those bargain-hunting, 70 per cent of shoppers are expected to be men - as nearly half still hadn't done any of their Christmas shopping last week (tut tut, boys).

Some major stores have already started their seasonal sales, and shopping centres such as Brent Cross, Bluewater and Sheffield's Meadowhall mall said hordes have been travelling in last minute buys.

An online record is predicted for Christmas Day, but former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey has apparently warned of Christmas day not being appreciated:

"This day is precious. We are now in danger of the gadgets taking over our lives and we are not in control of them."

Speaking of presents and gadgets, according to another poll, over one million children are planning to wake up before 6:00am on Christmas morning, and 4.5 million are planning to be awake and ready for presents by 8:00am.

So best of luck to all parents out there.

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