If you haven't got a Furby by now, forget it - it will be long after Christmas before any more appear.

The Gremlin-type cuddly toy with a language of its own appears to be this year's biggest seller - even eclipsing last year's favourite The Teletubbies.

A spokesman for Conways Toymaster, in Cavendish Street, Keighley, said people all of a sudden realised it's Christmas. "We took delivery of 500 Furbys at 1pm on Tuesday and by 3pm they had nearly all gone," says the spokesman.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the town there were mixed reactions.

Bob Grace, deputy manager of electrical giant Currys at the new Hard Ings retail park, said he was more than happy with the amount of trade coming in. "New technology items such as wide screens, mini-disc systems, and digital versatile discs are selling very well," he said.

He was also surprised at the number of 'white goods' such as fridges and washing machines being sold. "Usually we sell a lot of televisions and hi-fis, but the last two months we have seen a lot of white goods being sold," he said.

Woolworth manager Roy Harri-son said trade was brisk. "We are very busy," he said. "Toys, videos, confectionary and decorations are all selling very well."

Sainsbury's manager Chris Menon said Christmas arrived 'in a big way' on Tuesday. "It's been a long time coming because people can now buy things for Christmas as early as September," he said. "But the last couple of days has been everything we expected." He said one of the store's biggest sellers had been Keighley-brewed Timothy Taylor Landlord bottled beer. "We have only recently started selling it and it has gone well," he said.

But some people felt shoppers are waiting for January sales.

Andrew Walker, of the Willis Walker sports shop in Cavendish Street, said trade had been steady but not brilliant. "Replica football shirts and yo-yos have sold well but I think people are waiting for the sales," he said.

Airedale Shopping Centre manager Mike Millbank agreed. "The car park and numbers through the doors of the centre are okay but I think slightly down on last year," he said. He said some traders appeared to be having a good Christmas.

and some were not.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.