CLAIMS that High Street stores may be forced to bring their January sales forward in a desperate bid to boost flagging festive trade have been branded "ridiculous" by a Bournemouth shop manager.

Dale Wilkinson, who is in charge at Next in Old Christchurch Road, said: "We are doing really well. There's absolutely no way we would contemplate bringing our sale forward.

"Apart from being unfair to shoppers who are currently buying their Christmas presents and won't want to see them at a reduced price before December 25, there is absolutely no need.

"Like every other year our sale will begin at 6am on December 27 when we expect a very big queue down the street."

Despite competition from Southampton's WestQuay and Next's store in Poole, Next sales in Bournemouth are booming.

"There has been no downturn," said Dale. "Our sales are the same as in past years, if not better. The wet weather last month did put people off Christmas shopping but we have no complaints. We're making a fortune."

John Ivory, the manager at H Samuel jewellers in Commercial Road, said festive sales at the store were "going very well."

The big banks had predicted a Christmas spending bonanza with shoppers splashing out as much as £2 billion this month.

But figures published by the British Retail Consortium have revealed that growth in sales hit a two-year low last month.

Some stores such as Bhs are already running special promotions and money-off deals in order to get shoppers through their doors.

But a Bhs spokeswoman in Bournemouth refused to comment on the store's Yuletide sales figures. "We are not allowed to divulge anything," she said.

With just 13 shopping days left to December 25, traders are no doubt hoping that tills will continue to ring.