The predicted last minute rush to snap up Christmas presents has begun throughout the UK.

Link has announced that its cashpoint machines dispensed £54m on Monday, representing a 150% increase on the same period last year.

The Midland Bank says it also expects a 30% increase, from 1996, in cash withdrawn from its machines in the two week run-up to Christmas.

While many retailers have complained that the Christmas rush has begun later than ever, the past few days have seen a dramatic increase in trading.

A spokesman for the British Association of Toy Retailers, Gerry Master, said: "People have left their shopping very late this year. But now it's a question of can you take the money fast enough?"

The Financial Director at Selfridges in London, Peter Williams, said the start of Christmas week had been more frenzied than ever.

"The first two days of this week have been exceptionally busy and we expect it to be the same right up until the 25th," he said.

Nationwide sales increase

A spokeswoman for Brent Cross shopping centre in north London said many of their retailers had already started sales to counter the sluggish high street spending throughout November and early December.

"The Christmas rush didn't start very early but people are more than making up for it now," she said.

In the north-east, Gateshead's MetroCentre says its trade is up with 133,000 people flooding through the doors on Monday and a similar number expected on Tuesday.

A spokesman said: "Christmas started early for us with the Northern Rock windfalls in the autumn, and it hasn't really stopped. There is an air of confidence around the centre and most of our retailers are delighted with the way Christmas is going for them."

The picture is much the same in the Midlands with the Merry Hill Centre in Dudley taking advantage of extended opening hours in an effort to beat the Christmas crushes.

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