Bargain-hunter Brits shop around for good deals

Seven in ten Britons love shopping around for a bargain, according to the latest research from Mintel.

The market research company has found that 30 per cent have said they want to pay as little as possible for their clothes, with 36 per cent claiming they buy all their basic clothes in shops such as Asda, Primark and Matalan, a retail website reports.

"Value clothing has become a lot more accessible and more importantly, acceptable, especially with the growth of Primark and the supermarkets," said Katrin Magnussen, senior retail analyst at Mintel, according to Inside Retailing.

Ms Magnussen added that "the rush of buying a new outfit" is what many Brits are addicted to, with the fact that the clothes are cheap and therefore seem disposable being "just irresistible".

She also said that cheap clothes allow shoppers to keep up with the latest fashions despite the impact of the credit crunch on consumer spending.

Primark operates 173 stores across the UK, Ireland - under the Penneys brand - and Spain, employing more than 25,000 members of staff, according to its website.