The battle for Christmas trade today hit its peak as rival supermarkets opened their doors around the clock.

Sainsbury's set up in direct competition to Tesco by matching 24-hour opening times in three of its major stores until Saturday night.

Many stores have also taken advantage of a loophole in the 10am Sunday opening law by allowing shoppers in at 9am or 9.30am for browsing time.

It means frantic last-minute customers can pile their trolleys high and be ready to pay at the checkout as the clock hits 10am.

Eager not to miss out on extra takings, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Safeway, Marks & Spencer, Somerfield and Asda have all taken advantage of the extra time at stores in Southend, Rayleigh, Basildon and Castle Point.

Branches of Sainsbury's in London Road, Southend, Cricketers Way, Basildon, and at Rayleigh Weir will be open for 24 hours from today until Saturday night - bringing them in line with larger branches of Tesco in Pitsea and on the A127 at Southend which already open 24 hours a day.

However, the shopworkers' union, Usdaw, said the moves would further reduce the amount of time workers have off over Christmas to be with their families.

A spokesman said: "One of the purposes of the law which restricts Sunday trading hours was to limit working hours as well as opening hours. By introducing browsing time staff will have to work for that much longer."

He added: "Browsing is certainly against the spirit of the law and may be against the letter of the law so we would like to see local trading standards officers ensuring that stores do not break the law."

Festive shoppers - Santa and one of his elves buy their Christmas goodies from Shoebury's Asda store checkout girl Mandy Belsham.Picture: LUAN MARSHALL

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