BLACK FRIDAY.

Black Friday frenzy: Man arrested as shoppers across the UK fight it out for the best bargains with shelves cleared in just ONE MINUTE

• Male shopper arrested following a row at Asda store in Bristol this morning
• Trouble flared up when man, 35, was told he couldn't buy two 60-inch TVs
• Frenzied shoppers across the country clear shelves within minutes
• Televisions, DVD players, phones and tablets discounted by up to 70%
• 'They were like locusts. It was madness,' one witness said
• 'It was like a pack of savages looking for a bargain,' said another

A male shopper has been arrested at an Asda store during the Black Friday scramble for cut-price goods which has seen bargain hunters behaving 'like savages'.
These extraordinary pictures show the man being tackled and then wrestled to the ground by security guards at the store in Cribbs Causeway, Bristol.
He was arrested following a row over two 60-inch televisions as thousands of people across the country bombarded stores selling discounted DVD players, phones and tablets.

Arrest: A shopper has been arrested after a row broke out at the Asda store in Cribbs Causeway, Bristol

Held: The male shopper, who was trying to buy two 60-inch televisions, was restrained by security and staff members at the store this morning

Eyewitnesses said trouble flared up when staff told the man, 35, was only allowed to buy one of each product.
He was escorted from the store by security guards and was finally restrained by five members of staff - with one employee suffering a cut face.
One witness said: 'He was being told by staff at Asda that he wasn't allowed to buy two TVs,
'Security then escorted him and he was arguing and filming them on his mobile phone when it was knocked out of his hand.
'He ended up being carted off handcuffed in a police car but it was the security guards who got physical.'
Officers from Avon and Somerset Police arrived at the store and arrested a man.

Frenzy: Hundreds of shoppers grab for cut price electrical bargains at an Asda superstore in Benton, North Tyneside this morning, where the shelves were cleared within a minute

Grab: Crowds of bargain hunters waited outside the store from around 6am - with the event starting at 8am

WHAT WAS ON SALE

Asda were offering discounts on over 500,000 products in 350 stores, including:
LG 42” Plasma TV
Black Friday price: £249
Original price: £459
Polaroid 32” LED TV 
Black Friday price: £99
Original price: £179
Cyclone Explorer 7” Tablet
Black Friday price: £49
Original price: £89
Little Tikes Cozy Coupe
Black Friday price: £29
Original Price £59
Little Tikes Play Kitchen 
Black Friday price: £38
Original price: £169

A police spokesman said: 'We were called to Asda to reports a security guard had been assaulted.
'He suffered a cut to the face but declined an ambulance. A 35-year-old man was detained and remains in custody.'
At a store in Benton, North Tyneside, hundreds of frenzied shoppers made a grab for cut price electrical bargains - with the shelves cleared in just one minute.
According to one witness, there was an orderly queue outside the store - where tablets were on sale for just £49 - from around 6am this morning. 
But when the clocks stuck 8am - chaos descended.
Shoppers were frantically snatching products from the shelves with men and women piling into each other in a mad scramble to snatch bargains.
A shopper described scenes at the store as 'horrific' and said shoppers were like 'a pack of savages looking for a bargain.'

Mad dash: Shoppers enjoyed up to 70 per cent discounts of electrical items - such as televisions, tablets and phones. Many filled their trolleys with the cut-price goods

Good buy: Tablets were selling for just £49 and Samsung phones for £99 at the event

 

'Feeding frenzy' for bargains at Asda's Black Friday sale

Margaret Green, 55, from North Tyneside, said: 'It was bedlam, chaos. It was absolutely jam-packed. It wasn't a great queuing system. People started taking the black sheets off themselves, then in was mayhem.
'People grabbed what they could. There was no ticketing system.
'They did have staff at the 32 inch TVs but I didn't see any staff where the tablets and the phones were.

Elsewhere: Meanwhile, at Asda in Leyton, East London shoppers were also enjoying cut-price bargains

Queues at the checkout: Electrical items were gone within 2 minutes at the Leyton event - originally an American tradition to encourage Christmas spending

'There were big fights at the tablets and the phones. It was horrific. It was like a pack of savages looking for a bargain.
'I was ashamed to be English to be honest. People had more than one item. They had two or three TVs or tablets in their trollies.
'I saw one person take a phone out of somebody else's basket. There was lots of screaming and shouting. I'm surprised there weren't people on the floor. I found it disgusting. It was horrific.'

Barren: Shelves once full of televisions and DVD players laid empty this morning

Festive: Until recently, Black Friday was an American tradition. However numerous British stores have this year slashed their prices to encourage Christmas spending

Early risers: Successful shoppers leave the Asda store in Cribbs Causeway, Bristol, with a hoard of goods

One shopper filled his trolley with two 32inch flat screen TV's that were only £99 before abandoning his bounty in search of other slashed-price items.
Another witness said: 'They were like locusts - shoppers were coming in from everywhere.
'It was madness. It was over within a matter of minutes.'
Added security guards were present for the Black Friday event - an American custom where stores cut their prices for 24 hours on the day after Thanksgiving.

 

UK cashes in on Black Friday fever. Asda releases advert

Asda price: Shoppers leave the Bristol store with a flat screen television balanced on top of their trolly

Happy shoppers: Bargain hunters take their new TVs to their cars in Plymouth, Devon

Squeeze: Shoppers struggle to get their purchases, including televisions and children's toys, into their car

Meanwhile, hundreds of people were waiting to get their hands on televisions, DVD players and other goods at the supermarket in Leyton, East London this morning.

When the store opened its doors at 8am the bargain hunters certainly didn't wait around - with all electrical items selling out within two minutes.
Incredible pictures show checkouts swamped with people holding boxes of reduced products.

Deserted: Black Friday fever has clearly not reached the Victoria Quarter in Leeds - which was virtually shopper-free this morning

Not good for business: The brand-new Trinity centre in the city was also quiet this morning

In Bristol a number of successful shoppers were attempting to pile a range of goods into their cars throughout the afternoon.
However, some locations had not been hit with Black Friday fever - with several shopping areas in Leeds completely deserted.
Black Friday - the biggest day in America’s festive shopping calendar - has well and truly arrived in the UK to kick off the pre-Christmas rush.