Long queues formed inside Primark in Bluewater last night as shoppers rushed to return to the clothing chain.

As the second national lockdown came to an end the non-essential retailer reopened its doors at Kent's busiest shopping centre after a four-week absence.

Pictures and videos posted on social media showed shoppers queuing at stores across the country into the early hours of Thursday morning.

It comes as the clothing giant marked the end of the period by keeping a handful of its stores open for 24 hours. The aim is to help customers spread shopping hours and reduce queues.

Among those operating 24/7 was the store at Bluewater shopping Centre in Greenhithe – currently in Tier 3 – where large volumes of people were seen flocking to the retailer to capitalise on the late night shopping opportunity.

Inside the store was said to be "rammed" with little room for customers to socially distance at the stroke of midnight.

But other customers venturing to the Bluewater branch in the early hours reported a different experience.

Emma Valls-Russell, 33, vlogged the experience with her mum Karen and says she only saw a handful of shoppers at any one time.

"We arrived at about 4.20am and stayed until just before 6am," she said. "There was a steady trickle of people, but it was nice and quiet, a much safer experience than other visits we have had recently.

"The staff were really friendly and helpful too, which I was pleasantly surprised about. I was worried that the staff would be tired and annoyed at having to work through, but they were very polite and helpful and kept their distance.

"The shelves were a little empty, as night time is usually used for the restock and it was unsafe for them to do too much while customers were browsing, but we still managed to grab a few items we wanted.

Overall the vlogger said it was a "good experience" adding it was not something they would do often but would do again to avoid the crowds.

A Primark spokesman said: "Employee and customer safety are Primark's highest priority.

"We are closely following all government advice at our re-opened stores and have rigorous health and safety measures in place, including a strict social distancing protocol and limits on the number of customers allowed in store, with dedicated Primark employees and security staff on hand to manage queues.

"Our Bluewater store is currently open with extended hours in place to help safely reduce queues by spreading shopping hours over a longer period of time.”

Also making the most of the unusual opening hours was TV star Stacey Solomon, who visited nearby Lakeside – the other side of the Dartford Crossing in Tier 2.

“I woke up at 4am and went for a late night early morning nose,” she wrote on her Instagram Story. “It was so empty and peaceful I just walked around for ages.”

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