BIG screen TVs turned out to be the runaway success of Black Friday as BHS sold out of its supply in 90 minutes.

Televisions had been brought in especially for the discount day and 60 staff - the store’s entire roster -were drafted in to meet the expected demand and the supply sold out in well under two hours.

BHS has stretched its opening hours stretched from 6am until midnight.

“What few customers have actually hit the town centre this morning, we have been able to capitalise on,” said Andy Meehan, store manager.

Otherwise what had been billed as the biggest day of shopping across Great Britain, failed to take off under dark skies in Swindon at 6am, with less than a handful of shoppers in Canal Walk.

The only doors holding back queues were at Game, where a number of offers on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles had pulled in a gaggle of enthusiasts for a 7am start.

Game was one of the few stores to remain open overnight too, taking cash from 8pm on Thursday until 2am on Friday.

Argos was one of the first to light up the town centre at 6am, with expectations of £88m in revenue predicted across the nation for the catalogue specialist.

“For a 6am start I didn’t really anticipate it to be that busy. Based on how our trade goes we usually pick up around 10am,” said Callum Kavanagh, customer services manager.

“We were allowed to trade how and when we want to choose but we’re doing a standard 6am until 6pm for it because we feel trading any later won’t make much of a difference.

“We’ve already had one or two sales and it is beneficial just to make sure the customer orders are picked for this morning.

“If you come into 100 prepay items that’s not ideal when you normally get about 15.

“We’re estimated to take around £88m and if you look at last year’s figures there was a record number of Xbox Ones and PlayStation 4s sold.

“We’re a lot more prepared this year after a shocker last year.

“It was like hell to be perfectly honest with you. I don’t think we were prepared.

“This year we’ve got, at a given point, 30 staff members. We have really over-accommodated for it.”

Of those shoppers who had dragged themselves out of bed for the early morning deals, most felt online was king for shopping these days, especially when it comes to bargains.

Ian Fuller, of Abbey Meads, said: “I have come in because I like to know I have been one of the first in for the deals, but I didn’t expect many to be here, or for there to be any fighting for TVs. The internet makes it easy for people.

"A lot of my friends would rather sit at home in bed on their iPads and buy their gear on there.”

Rebecca Tatchell, 29, of Royal Wootton Bassett, said: “I was coming in early for work anyway, but it’s always worth having a look through the shops because there is so much hype around the whole thing.”