More than 18,000 cars are expected to turn up at Castlepoint Shopping Centre today as shoppers take advantage of the Black Friday sales.

One retailer will be opening its doors as early as 6am, while others will be offering discounts for two or more days - all in the spirit of a tradition that, until last year, belonged to the United States.

Castlepoint’s general manager, Peter Matthews, said: “Last year really was the first time that retailers started to think about Black Friday. Asda was the only store in the shopping centre that was running promotions and they sold out in minutes.

“It was a chaotic day.”

This year, many more big-name retailers have been getting on board the Black Friday phenomenon, such as M&S, Sainsbury’s, Topshop and Game. Sainsbury’s will be embracing the hectic nature of the event with ‘first come, first served’ deals, while Asda will have a special area for its many offers.

Black Friday is a big sales day that follows the Thanksgiving holiday. But now, more and more shops in the UK are adopting the day as a way of boosting the pre-Christmas sales period.

With more and more people now aware of Black Friday, Mr Matthews said he would be expecting a lot of activity in the shopping centre today.