Is it a BLANK Friday for Britain's shopping centres? Early-bird bargain hunters fail to show up as they go ONLINE in search of the best deals (but there WAS a long queue at Greggs in Birmingham)

Black Friday threatened to turn into a damp squib today as major stores opened their doors early this morning only to find hardly any shoppers were waiting to get inside. The Bullring in Birmingham opened three hours early at 7am as staff anticipated a rush of
eager shoppers - but the only place with a queue was the Greggs bakery as just a handful of customers milled around the centre. Britons are expected to spend up to £2billion today and up to £4billion over the next four days - ending on Cyber Monday - as retailers make the most of the American-imported shopping phenomenon. But photographs taken this morning across stores in Britain showed only a small number of bargain-hunters making the most of the sales as they left stores with trolleys piled high with discounted goods.