VIDEO: Chaotic scenes as Black Friday kicks off

Amazing footage caught on mobile phones show bargain hunters battling with each other at the Clifton retail park store at midnight on Thursday to get the cheapest deals.

Hundreds were caught in a scrum for cheap TVs and other heavily-discounted items.

A Tesco store in Manchester was forced to close early while police were called to seven other Tesco stores in Greater Manchester as fights broke out.

Greater Manchester Police said at least two people have been arrested at Black Friday sales events already this morning.

It comes as Fylde Coast shops were offering plenty of bargains today as they gear up for Black Friday – the start of the Christmas shopping rush.

Currys PC World, Asda, Carphone Warehouse and Sainsbury’s have all lined-up cut-price deals to tempt customers.

Asda on Cherry Tree Road, Marton, will be selling Coleman 4x4 Quad Bikes for £3,500, a saving of £3,000.

Xbox 360s are on offer with two games for less than £100.

There was trouble last year at the same ASDA store as shoppers fought with each other as they queued from 6am to bag bargains like discounted TVs, blu ray players, tablets and smartphones.

But this year Asda says it is prepared for the hundreds of extra shoppers expected.

Spokesman Paul Hadfield said: “We will have more colleagues on hand to deal with the extra customers especially those trained in crowd management.

“It’s something that was new to the UK last year and we may well see more people turning up.

“We will expect it to be busier than a regular Friday morning. We will have taken this into account and staff levels will reflect this, there will be more security on site.”

Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year in America and is traditionally associated with the first Friday after Thanksgiving in the US.

It is a day when stores across the Atlantic mark the official start of the festive shopping period with a day of huge discounts.

Freeport in Fleetwood decided to buck the trend and open a day early for its own Black Thursday event which saw retailers offering discounts of up to 50 per cent across their ranges.

John Magee, centre manager at Fleetwood Freeport, said the reason was to help shoppers make the most of the bargains.

He said: “Shoppers will no doubt be pulled in a million different directions as the holidays get underway, so we’re helped them save time and money by offering earlier access to Black Friday deals.”

Blackpool Winter Gardens has cut prices by up to three quarters on selected shows and events for the day, its festive screenings of Bad Santa and It’s A Wonderful Life have been slashed to just £1 and Illuminasia tickets will be £5 for the remainder of 2014.

However, John Hannett, general secretary of Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers called on shoppers to respect retail staff.

He said: “Black Friday can be very difficult for staff. With overcrowded shops and highly excited customers, sometimes tempers flare and things can get out of control.

“Retail staff are keen to give great customer service and are trained to provide a good shopping experience, but that can be difficult if people are angry and aggressive.”