BOLTON traders begin their Sunday run-up to Christmas tomorrow - 13 weeks before the festive season!

Bolton and Bury Chamber of Commerce says the early start to Sunday opening last year proved so successful that this year they are starting even earlier.

Several of the town's major stores are planning to open their doors from 10.30am until 4.30pm this Sunday in a bid to capture early bird shoppers before other towns in the region begin their Sunday pre-Christmas promotions.

Last year, shops started opening in Bolton on Sundays eight weeks before Christmas.

Kay Gregson, assistant director of the Chamber of Commerce, says traders found shoppers remained loyal to the town even when other shopping centres followed suit.

Tomorrow major town centre stores such as Woolworths, Marks and Spencer, WH Smith, C & A and Boots in Deansgate will be opening their doors alongside Crompton Place and the Market Place.

But the town's department stores, Whitakers and Whiteheads, and the Market Hall do not plan to join them until the end of November when most of the town's other shops will also be opening their doors.

And Debenhams will start their Sunday opening on November 5.

With a quarter of the year still to go, shops are already beginning to stock up with seasonal goodies such as selection boxes and Christmas crackers.

To mark the start of Sunday shopping, Bolton Council has swapped its "Busking Bolton" competition from a Saturday to tomorrow and renamed it "Street Entertainment".

The popular seven-year-old contest has attracted 24 entries to Victoria Square this year, competing for the £1,000 first prize.

The event has been sponsored by the Market Place and Crompton Place, with the entertainers performing in the morning and the finalists appearing on stage again in the afternoon.

People travelling into Bolton by car will find there will be normal charging in council-run car parks from 12.30pm and parking charges will also be imposed in pay and display areas.

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