Shoppers in the Square, Shrewsbury

Shropshire may be in the grip of the Big Freeze – but tills were still jingling at shopping centres in the county on the last weekend before Christmas.

It is traditionally one of the busiest for retailers for the whole year – but they had feared the thick snow and ice would put many people off doing their festive shopping on Saturday and Sunday.

However, traders in Shropshire today hailed it a successful weekend of sales – despite the Arctic conditions seeing a number of people deciding to stay indoors.

Last minute present-buyers went to the county’s two main shopping towns – Shrewsbury and Telford – on what was dubbed “Super Saturday”.

In Shrewsbury, Nick Pitt, manager of the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside Shopping Centres, said he was pleased with how the weekend had gone.

He said: “Saturday was actually a very good day of trading by all accounts and shoppers in the town seemed keen to brave the conditions to ensure they were ready for next weekend’s festivities.

“A couple of independent retailers were forced to open late and things did quieten down from about 2pm but on the whole all three centres in the town were reporting a very pleasing day of trading.”

Meanwhile, stores in Telford Shopping Centre reported a slower than normal weekend before Christmas.

Neil Harrow, store manager at Primark, said: “The weather had a negative impact.

“It was a slow compared to what we would have expected and comments from other stores also said that it was slow. The centre felt quiet all weekend.”

And it was a similar story at Telford’s supermarkets. Sainsbury’s deputy store manager David Foley said the weekend had been slower than anticipated at the shop on Forge Retail Park but that the store was bracing itself for a busy week in the run-up for Christmas.

Nationally, retailers’ hopes for a record-breaking weekend were dented by the snow and the big freeze wrecked shopping trips for people across the country.

Despite shoppers trying their best to brave the wintry weather, many were held up as the country’s roads and public transport networks were thrown into chaos.

Meanwhile travel chaos is set to continue today with freezing conditions and heavy snow causing flight cancellations and delays at Britain’s busiest airports.

Passengers hoping for a Christmas getaway have found themselves stranded at airports, with hundreds of people camping out in terminals for another night after planes were grounded.

Only about 20 flights were able to take off or land at Heathrow on Sunday out of 1,300 that usually go through the airport in a day.

Heathrow is running a “limited schedule of arrivals and departures” from 6am, a spokeswoman said, but disruption is expected for days to come.

Gatwick Airport is open with operations “returning to normal” but passengers have been warned to contact their airline before travelling as delays and cancellations are set to continue. Shropshire’s emergency services have also been kept busy in the Arctic weather this weekend.

Fire crews and motorists were used as a shield to protect ambulance staff treating a man following a crash in Telford, due to fears they could be hit by other cars sliding on icy roads.

The crews were sent to a collision between a car and a tree at the Apley Roundabout, Whitchurch Drive, Wellington at 12.34pm on Saturday.

One man suffered minor injuries and was being treated by paramedics but fire crews were called to build a circle of vehicles around the area of the crash so no other motorists slid into the scene. The man was taken for a check up at the Princess Royal Hospital.

Meanwhile, crews were also sent to Salop Street, Bridgnorth, at 1.35am yesterday, when a car hit an outdoor gas pipe, causing a minor leak.

Inspector Jo Fitzpatrick, of West Mercia Police, said: “We ventilated the area but it was very minor, so no evacuation was needed and we left the scene by 2.25am.”

Police chiefs in Shropshire and Mid Wales have praised motorists in the region for heeding advice and staying indoors — avoiding the treacherous travelling conditions.

Although West Midlands Ambulance Service recorded record call-outs on Saturday, West Mercia and Dyfed-Powys Police forces said they were pleased residents only travelled in emergencies, with temperatures dipping as low as -18C (0F) in parts of the county.

Inspector Fitzpatrick said: “Saturday night and Sunday, the roads have thankfully been very quiet and we have had a bit of respite for overworked staff.

“It seems people have heeded our advice about staying indoors and not taking a risk with the roads.”

Shrewsbury Town striker Jake Robinson was among the thousands caught up in travel chaos in the south of the country after the club’s game at Oxford was postponed.

Robinson was forced to abandon his car before taking a train from Oxford to London. He told followers on social networking site Twitter the journey had taken 11 hours.

Shropshire Star reporter Hannah Costigan spent nearly 17 hours in her car as she journeyed south.

She said: “I left Droitwich at about 11.30am on Saturday heading for London.”

By Russell Roberts