Black Friday: Tesco turns away shoppers not joining in sales day

On shopper took to Twitter to voice his anger at being turned away from a Tesco in Edinburgh

Tesco shut its Extra stores at midnight on November 26 to prepare for Black Friday (Tom Muir)

Tesco turned away shoppers not wanting to take part in Black Friday when stores opened at 5am.

One shopper took to Twitter to voice his anger at being turned away from a Tesco in Edinburgh. "Was delighted to discover your Corstorphine store is happy to turn away anyone not wanting to buy a TV today. Won't be back," Chris Brown tweeted.

"Got in as was there for 'normal' shopping, got basket, then told by two female staff I couldn't buy anything as it was black Friday?"

Tesco replied: "Hi Chris, I'm really sorry about that. They open at 7am for customers who dont wish to take part in Black Friday."

He wasn't the only one.

Tesco shut its Extra stores at midnight on November 26 to prepare for Black Friday.

"Our Black Friday event was incredibly popular last year so to ensure colleagues have enough time to set up for the event this year, we will be closing all participating stores at 12am and reopening them at 5am," a spokesman said.

Tesco and Asda are trying to avoid a repeat of last year when footage showed eager shoppers fighting over discounted goods in the aisles of stores.

A spokesman for Tesco said: “Our Black Friday event has been very popular so far and feedback from customers has been extremely positive. As part of our plans, we advised customers not participating in the event to visit our stores after 7am. Colleagues have been on hand to help the very small number of customers who needed assistance.”