Holly checks out Harrods’ epic sale

AUSTRALIAN pop singer Holly Valance was the star attraction yesterday as the world’s most famous department store began the first day of its winter sales.

Almost 1,000 shoppers waited outside the 10 doors of the Harrods store in central London before it opened at 9.05am.

Some had spent three wet nights hoping to be first to bag some of the one-off bargains including a stg£3,700 dress reduced to £99 and a hi-tech state-of-the-art TV cut from £3,999 to £100.

Valance, aged 19, who launched the sale, told the queuing crowd: "I'm very excited to be here," before the store's chairman, Mohamed Al Fayed, leaned over and whispered: "Tell them about the bargains."

The singer, wearing Cartier jewellery worth £100,000, arrived in a horse-drawn carriage before being escorted around some of the store's one million square feet of floor space by Mr Al Fayed.

He told the Neighbours star, who recently bought a house nearby: "This could be your new corner shop."

Holly modelled jewellery worth £91,520 and was told it was now on sale for £45,760.

Among the other bargains were a £1,000 Siemens fridge-freezer for £99.99 and a £469 Stefano Ricci silk shirt for just £19.95.

A £3,999 Philips 32-inch Plasma TV was snapped up for £100 by A-level student Anthony Duncan from East London.

The 17-year-old had slept outside the store's doors since 3pm on Saturday to grab the bargain.

A clever reconnaissance mission meant that he beat rival Nick Salter, who had slept outside on an inflatable mattress since Friday night.

Anthony said: "I kind of knew that I was going to get it because I had a good starting position.

"On Saturday I came inside with some friends and scouted it out. The weather has not been too bad, I had a big jacket and a blanket to sleep under," he said.

Among the shoppers thronging the store were the Kyoshugo family, who flew from Tokyo especially for the sale.

The first day of the sale was brought forward from its usual date of the first Wednesday in January because store managers did not want to open on New Year's Day.

"We tried opening once on New Year's Day but we had dismal sales," said a shop source. "The customers didn't want to shop and the staff were hung over and didn't want to work."