THE sales tills were not ringing as loudly as hoped in South Lakeland this week as snow and ice put shoppers off travelling to the main retail centres.

Despite Monday being the worst day for wintry weather, it turned out to be the busiest of the festive long weekend.

By Tuesday the snow had largely disappeared from the roads, but it had turned pavements into dangerous ice rinks.

Despite the prospect of grabbing a bargain, with shops offering dis-counts of up to 70 per cent, the conditions det-erred plenty of shoppers from venturing out.

Most shops in Kendal town centre appeared to be affected in some way by the ice.

Jordan Hilton, mana-ger of The Works, said: “Before Christmas trade was fantastic. It was one of the best Christ-mases this store has had in 11 years. Bank Holiday Monday was also busy, despite the snow; but business on Tuesday was affected by the icy paths.”

Shaun Wilson, super-visor at Pine Valley outdoor clothing store, said the sale got off to a good start on Monday.

“We were OK – steady all day. But Tuesday started really quietly with footfall down on what we would have hoped.”

Janet Weiss, assistant manager at Phase Eight women’s fashion store, said: “We had a pre-Christmas sale for two weeks which went really well. We opened again on Boxing Day and trade was steady.

However, on Monday it was really good, despite the snow.”

Joanne Draper, of men’s outfitters Greenwoods, said: “Monday was a good day, even with all the snow.

“On Tuesday, though, the paths outside the shop were really bad with all the ice. The council could have been a bit more prepared.”

Shoppers at K Village had no problems under-foot. But its shops rep-orted ‘steady’ rather than booming business.

Centre manager Mandy Dixon said stores and cafes were all doing reasonably well considering the ‘challenging’ trading conditions.

Meanwhile, Ulverston’s independent traders gave themselves an extended Christmas break, with many staying closed until Tuesday.

And in Windermere, stores that did open on Monday found they had fewer customers than expected because of the snow.