Bargain hunters: Christmas spectacular at Bluewater's M&S store, which took 20 per cent off all items for one day Some shoppers had even opened Christmas presents they had wrapped before the sale was announced and returned them to the store with their receipts to save money. Other brazen customers filled trolleys and baskets with items they had previously bought. Its chief executive Sir Stuart Rose still appeared delighted with how the sale had gone. 'It seems to have touched the spot. It's a riot,' he said this afternoon. M&S officials said they expected a 40 per cent rise in customers today, although the number of refunds was also reported to be 10 times the normal rate in some stores. In Bournemouth, Dorset, staff had to put barriers up around the returns department to herd the throng of queueing shoppers. Customer Sally Jennings, 46, had already wrapped five presents containing clothes she had bought when she heard about today's sale. She said: 'I had to rip the paper off before bringing them back. I wasn't the only one taking advantage though, the queue for a refund was about 50 people deep when I joined it. Some people had trolleys full of gifts and clothes that they were returning. 'As soon as the money went back on their credit card they went onto the shop floor and bought the same items for 20 per cent less. 'I had to wait for nearly an hour to be served but it was worth the