EVERYONE loves a bargain. That wonderful rush of adrenaline as you approach the cash till, mixed with trepidation and fear that the beaming shop assistant will inform you there's been some error and the price isn't as good as you thought.

But when the purchase is complete and the bargain secured, nothing can beat that retail fix and the feeling of accomplishment, knowing you've got a good deal and the high street has failed miserably in its ploy to rip you off.

You feel you have beaten the system and revel in telling the world about your latest steal, with your audience made to guess the cost of the treasured item in true "Price Is Right" fashion.

As we were all tucked up in our beds in the early hours of Thursday morning, bargain hunting of the most ruthless nature caused chaotic scenes to erupt at the opening of Ikea's new flagship store in Edmonton, North London.

The Swedish furniture giant's aggressive advertising campaign to promote the launch of its latest offering promised leather sofas at £45 and bargains in abundance.

In the pursuit of maximum PR impact, Ikea decided to open the store at midnight. As queues of people lined up in a typical British orderly fashion, traffic on the North Circular began to build up, with punters travelling from as far as Birmingham to get their hands on a cheap deal.

There was no polite ribbon cutting here. Instead, in true Scandinavian fashion, the store opening was marked by an axe being thrust downwards on to a log. This symbolic act of assertion and aggression was more relevant than the company could have thought, because scenes of threatening violence ensued as customers fought over the furniture on sale.

Once the doors had opened at midnight, a stampede took place as rumours had reached the queuing public that there were very limited stocks of the bargain items that had formed the core of Ikea's ad campaign.

In fact, Ikea has since confirmed there were only ever 150 leather sofas at £45 and 350 cut price fabric sofas available to satisfy the bargain hungry crowd of 6,000 which had assembled.

Tales have since been told of people threatening other customers with lengths of wood and mallets in order to get their hands on the goods and punches were allegedly thrown left, right and centre in an attempt to protect the bargain bounty.

In the 40 minutes the store was open, nine ambulances were called and six fire engines, as injuries started to emerge and people began to collapse with heat exhaustion in the crush.

As a company Ikea talks a lot about "better living and responsibility". How this nightmare episode could contribute positively to anyone's life is beyond me and one could hardly regard their advertising messages promoting the new store as responsible.

But even more worrying is that people are prepared to draw blood and resort to violence and intimidation for, let's be honest, a piece of low grade furniture.

As someone put off by any queue unless it leads to a turnstile, I find it hard to fathom why so many people are prepared to stand around for hours for sales bargains. Sometimes I wonder whether their real motivation is the claim to fame of being first through the door.

They say good things come to those who wait, but does the thrill of the bargain really outweigh the time and energy spent pursuing the saving. Don't get me wrong, I love a bargain, but it has to be on my terms.

The fee for this column is donated to the York City FC Youth Development Fund

Updated: 08:57 Saturday, February 12, 2005