THOUSANDS of shoppers headed to Bicester Village yesterday causing delays on the roads.

But residents said they didn’t see a repeat of the chaos on Black Friday when there were miles of tailbacks.

Extra car parks were opened nearby with buses put on to take Boxing Day customers to and from the shops.

Traffic began building up in the morning with queues back to the Chesterton turn-off on the A41.
And Stagecoach suffered delays to its S5 service as a result.
The retail outlet’s spokeswoman, who did not want to be named, said they were expecting up to 40,000 shoppers.

She said: “We’ve dramatically increased parking and are directing it all away from Bicester town itself.

“Because of Black Friday, which was a huge surprise for us, we put in extra measures.

“We’ve worked very closely with police, the highways agency and councils to really be sure we can be very clinical about how we handle the traffic and make sure residents are not affected too much.”

Cars parked illegally along the A41 were being towed and ticketed by police as queues formed for the parking spaces.

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The spokeswoman added: “We opened earlier this year at 8am, instead of 9am, it’s getting busier earlier.

“Our responsibility is to encourage shoppers to come later in the week. Boxing Day is not a day that we promote, it’s a national phenomenon.”

Bicester resident Tracey Robin, 46, said: “The traffic is less chaotic. On Black Friday people were parked in the central reservations and things.”

One of this year’s shoppers was Angus Kerr and his 11-year-old son Angus Jr.

The pair left home at 6am to travel from the New Forest, arriving as the doors opened at 8am.

Mr Kerr, a process technician at an oil refinery, said: “The traffic wasn’t too bad, from the M40 to the car park was the longest part of the journey.

“It’s definitely worth the trip, we’ve saved about £150 compared to online prices.”

David Stevenson, from Watford, disagreed, after buying a Fred Perry shirt for his son.

The software consultant said: ““It’s extraordinary, completely ridiculous. You have to queue for everything: the car park, the coach, the shops, the stock, the tills, the loos.”

In Oxford’s Cornmarket Street hundreds of people queued for the sales, which opened as early as 6am.
Amy Measey, 29, was one of the first in line outside Next at 4am with her mother-in-law Carol Townsend.

The mum-of-three, from Wootton, near Abingdon, said: “It’s a bit of fun for the day after Christmas. We’ve done it every year for the past four years or so.

“The only problem is at that time in the morning there’s nowhere for a coffee.”

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