Stampede at new Primark

Around 20,000 shoppers were expected to pour into Wolverhampton's new Primark today - with extra security brought in to cope with the rush. Bosses were bracing themselves for big crowds to swamp the department store following its hotly-anticipated launch this morning.

Published Nov 8, 2006

Bosses were bracing themselves for big crowds to swamp the department store following its hotly-anticipated launch this morning in the former Littlewoods in the Wulfrun Centre.

Excited customers began queuing outside at 8.30am to be among the first to get their hands on the chain's award-winning bargains.

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy's wife Fiona, pictured above, cut the ribbon on the three-storey shopping mecca at 9am before hundreds of shoppers flooded into the three-storey building.

Primark's executive controller Clive Horobin, who was born in Wolverhampton, said: "It was really important for me to have a store in the city.

Mrs McCarthy, a self-confessed Primark fan, said the new store was a fantastic coup for her new home city. She added: "Mick and I live in Tettenhall and I think Wolverhampton is great. I am really enjoying life here."

The opening of the store signals a new era in retail therapy in Wolverhampton.

The Irish-based chain is heralded as the UK's best bargain store with clothes, accessories and home furnishings on sale for as little as £2.

With up-to-the-minute fashions costing a fraction of the average high street prices, it is no longer a haunt confined to cash-strapped mothers but a favourite with style icons and celebrities such as Charlotte Church.

Last week Noel Gallagher's girlfriend Sara McDonald drew gasps from the crowds at the Q Awards with her £10 Primark dress.

The opening of the Wolverhampton branch brings its empire to 156 stores in the UK and Ireland.

By Becky Sharpe and Victoria Nash