Shoppers braved the rain to visit the post-Christmas sales in Ipswich town centre.

The town saw a steady stream of shoppers on Monday, despite the wet weather and uncertainty over the Omicron variant affecting numbers.

The Tavern Street and Westgate Street area was the busiest part of the town, with Primark drawing a large number of bargain-hunters.

Many clothing chains had signs in their windows proclaiming cuts of up to 60%. New Look, Joules, White Stuff, Fat Face and River Island were all among the stores launching sales.

However, with Boxing Day falling on a Sunday this year, the sales have seen a slow start.

Leading independent store Coes, of Norwich Road, is starting its in-store sale at 9am on Tuesday, December 28, although it launched its online sale on Boxing Day.

Some smaller shops are taking a break after the pre-Christmas rush and not opening until later in the week or in the new year.

Alan Rayner was launching a sale at independent men's clothes shop Twist 'N' Shout in St Stephen's Lane, and said he had already had a good response.

He said: "We had one of our best Christmases ever - the best one we have had in the last five years.

"The sale has started off well so far. I had people at the door waiting, and had to ask them to wait while I opened up. I also had people messaging me on Christmas Day and Boxing Day."

Mr Rayner added, although there were fewer people in the town, they were tending to go into shops and buy items they wanted without a lot of browsing.

Bonbon chocolate and cake shop in the Buttermarket has reduced the price of some items aimed at the Christmas market.

But owner Stuart Calder said: "It's been very quiet on Boxing Day and also on Monday."

Mr Calder said that, as a chocolate shop, Bonbon didn't expect to be very busy straight after Christmas, but he added: "It's very similar to lockdown at the moment."

Shopper Lili Boslen said she had found some good bargains in the sales in Ipswich.

"I've bought a lot of stuff, so it was brilliant for me. I'm very happy with what I've bought."

Another shopper, Mac Scott, said: "It was about as busy in town as I thought it would be." He said he had picked up a few things, but hadn't seen much that he liked.

And Penny Harris said she had come into town to visit the sales. "I saw something before Christmas and waited to see if it was in the sales."

Ipswich-s-independent-shops-are-festive-and-ready--7becc7f0