TRADERS are expecting the Christmas rush to continue right through this week in York - after the final Saturday proved busy, but less than frenetic.

Both city centre streets and out-of-town shopping centres were full of shoppers over the weekend, but without the manic hustle and bustle often experienced so close to Christmas.

Adam Sinclair, chairman of York Chamber of Trade, said today that the boom which might normally hit the final Saturday before Christmas would be spread out over the next five days, because Christmas Day fell on a Saturday this year.

He added that York, helped by its array of Christmas lights, had experienced good trade throughout the run-up to Christmas.

Shoppers armed with bags of festive gifts said they were surprised by the lack of pandemonium, despite a rash of pre-Christmas sales to tempt customers, and they enjoyed being able to shop without getting "trampled."

Virginia Jackson, from Bishopthorpe Road, York, said she had feared the worst. She added: "It's not been as bad as I thought."

Geoff Shale, from Sheffield, said: "We've not been trampled. It's a nice atmosphere and you can walk around and get into shops."

Maria Vidal, from London, said: "When I've come to York before at Christmas, I've not been able to move for shoppers."

David Crawford, who with his wife, Margaret, is a regular Christmas visitor to York from Stockton-on-Tees, said: "It's the quietest I've seen it for a long time. People are getting a little bit wise and waiting for sales to start."

Pauline Aspinall, team manager at Boots, Coney Street, said: "It was weird really.

"Although we did well on the day, it did not seem as busy as we expected it to be. We thought it would be manic."

But Susan Allick, manager at BhS, in Coney Street, said that although there were not as many shoppers as during the recent St Nicholas Fayre, customers on Saturday were "serious shoppers" and trade was very good.

Norma Middlemiss, manager at the McArthur Glen Designer Outlet, Fulford, said customer numbers were down about two per cent on Saturday on the same day last year.

"Compared to last year it was actually quite flat," she said.

"We were quiet in the morning, but very busy in the afternoon, which indicates that customers were doing food shopping then coming to us."

Trader Jan Tempest said: "I think it was busier last week."

Market stallholder Steve Clements added: "It's not a disaster, but it's not as busy as I expected."

Updated: 09:39 Monday, December 20, 2004