LAST Friday, stores up and down the country slashed their prices for what has become known as Black Friday.

The latest slice of American culture has become part of the British shopping calendar with bargain hunters descending on high street shops and supermarkets across the UK.

Bridgwater was spared the scenes witnessed in some other towns and cities with shoppers fighting over the best deals on flat screen TVs and games consoles.

However, this year did see more retailers in Bridgwater’s High Street and Fore Street, as well as the supermarkets, embrace Black Friday over the weekend by offering oneoff deals.

Jay Hamilton, store manager of Game in Fore Street, told the Mercury: “It has been mental.

“We’ve had offers on big items like PS4 and Xbox 1, and it has really helped.

“We’ve seen people come down specifically for these deals – we’ve been offering people £50 to £100 savings.”

Despite customers having to wait in queues up to an hour long in some cases, Jay said everyone was well behaved.

He said: “Luckily, we haven’t had any problems – we don’t have security and everyone has waited patiently to get served.”

This Is It in Angel Place was another store reporting an increase in sales thanks to its Black Friday deals.

Manager Kevin Ellis said: “Sales have gone through the roof. I think it’s a great idea as it gets people down to the store rather than doing their shopping online, which benefits the shopping centre as a whole.”

The Mercury went into Bridgwater town centre on Friday and found bargain hunters had mixed feelings about the day of one-off deals.

Tamara Baker and Yasmin Thomas, of Bridgwater, said they could understand why people got carried away.

Tamara said: “We’re about to start looking and some of the shops have some really good discounts like 20% or 50%.

“If it’s a really good saving you have to go for it, don’t you?”

Shaun Loader, Teri Richards and six-year-old Cobey Grant said they had been a bit underwhelmed by the whole Black Friday phenomenon.

Shaun said: “It’s a bit ridiculous to see how carried away people get.

“It’s just a load of media hype. I haven’t really paid too much notice of what deals have been on.”

Chloe Bateman, 18, of Bridgwater, who was out shopping with her 12-year-old brother, Jacque, said if anything Black Friday would put her off going into town.

She said: “I knew it was today, but I didn’t really come out specifically for it – I’m only here shopping because it’s pay day.”

Jodie Witheridge, who was in town with her partner, Mark Lewis, and son, Harley Lewis, said: “I think some people can take it too far when you see them fighting in the shops.

“The shops need to make sure they do it properly with security, only let a certain number of people in and things like that.”

Sarah Knightley, of Bridgwater, said she thought Black Friday was handled better in the US.

She said: “I was shopping on Black Friday in America a few years ago and it’s really as bad as it looks with crowds and crowds of people.

“It’s horrendous, but they do it properly over there. You don’t really see too much trouble.