BLUEWATER, which broke its record for Christmas week visitors, has now broken its record for the New Year sales.

On the first day of the sales 180,000 people flocked to the north Kent centre's 300 shops, 10 per cent more than the previous year.

Bluewater general manager, Paul Lucchinelli, said: "The impetus shows no sign of slowing with spending levels at the winter sales still very high.

Overall, sales rose 13 per cent on the previous Christmas during the eight weeks before the holiday.

Bluewater's upmarket mix of designer fashion brands contributed to a particularly strong performance from the clothing sector, said centre spokesman Rachael Nolan.

"Other areas which traded well were home accessories and entertainment with big ticket' items such as wide screen televisions selling in large volumes," she said.

Cosmetics and fragrance retailer Sephora recorded its best sales at Bluewater, while John Lewis also reported excellent trading results.

Despite the large number of visitors to the centre throughout December, Bluewater says its traffic management system held up, and there were no major traffic problems.

Ms Nolan said: "The on-site police managed to spoil Christmas for a number of criminals with detection rates during the festive trading period up on last year and overall crime figures reduced."

Bluewater's innovative number plate recognition system, which is linked to the police national database, also contributed to keeping crime rates down with its ability to instantly alert the police once a suspect car enters Bluewater.