“The food section is mobbed and people have been taking advantage of special offers, like turkey, stuffing and gravy and also party food.

“Yesterday, it was a bit slower because people were staying home due to the weather, but it seems they are out in force today.”

She added luxury products, such as champagne, Christmas cake and desserts, were selling well.

The M&S Simply Food store in Brook Street, Broughty Ferry, was also reporting a high volume of shoppers.

David Byars, Asda Milton of Craigie manager, said the store was expecting to have its highest end-of-year sales since opening 20 years ago.

“We’ve been extremely busy, and we think we’ll smash sales records because of how many customers we’ve had in the weeks leading up to Christmas,” he said. “It’s always a busy time, but we’ve been trading non-stop.”

Mr Byars added there had been a notable increase in people shifting from branded products to the store’s own range — with the Extra Special line doing particularly well.

“A lot of people have been treating themselves to our luxury products, despite the recession, but they’ve been making savings elsewhere by going away from big-name brands.”

The store stops trading today at 6pm, and reopens on Sunday.

PERTH

Meanwhile, Perth shoppers were clamouring to get their last-minute food shopping completed (writes Sandra Gray).

A stream of customers had an early start to try and beat the queues at Simon Howie Butchers, with many facing a cold wait outside.

Staff, however, were on hand with hot drinks and festive snacks to keep them going.

KIRKCALDY

In Kirkcaldy, trading got off to a steady start as last-minute shoppers hit the high street (writes Jonathan Watson).

However, there was no major queuing in food stores, and parking in the town centre remained ample.

Fresh snowfall may have helped to keep some potential shoppers indoors, although stores did appear to be getting busier by noon.