Shoppers stampede at Woolies

Thousands of shoppers are rushing to get their hands on bargains in Staffordshire and the West Midlands as Woolworths promised to slash its prices after failed rescue efforts to find a new buyer.

Queues of frantic shoppers snaked around branches in the region to snap up cut-price gifts as part of the store's closing-down sale.

The sale has been launched after administrators announced they had so far failed to find a buyer for the retailer, leaving up to 25,000 jobs at risk.

Staff at Woolworths branches in the region - including stores in Cannock, Lichfield and Stafford - were working frantically this morning as people queued for around 40 minutes at the tills.