RETAILERS on The Rock are already reaping the rewards.

The first three days of trading have been declared a triumph with more than 70,000 people attending the Friday launch day celebrations and another 100,000 visitors over the weekend.

A number of businesses are reported to have smashed trading figures by up to 300 per cent. Primark recorded huge queues of up to 2,000 people outside the store prior to Friday’s opening and Baguette Express stated it was their best-ever launch day with the most covers taken.

On Saturday and Sunday alone, the newly-opened 10-screen Vue Cinema welcomed almost 8,000 moviegoers through its doors and made 729 hotdogs!

Another barometer of the public’s positive feeling came through Miller Homes’ sales with more than £1.2 million of apartments at The Rock selling in the first few days.

Rock centre director Mr David Laycock said: “We were aiming for 50,000 people on launch day and we far exceeded this which was a fantastic achievement. Months of planning went into making the opening celebrations a spectacle that everyone in Bury would remember and feel proud to be a part of.

“With such a high number of visitors we did experience a few issues within the car park, which led to a delay in parking for some. We attempted to resolve this as quickly as possible by deploying extra car park staff to help direct drivers and we will be reviewing signage and traffic flow systems as a result. The Rock management team is eager that these teething problems do not overshadow what is a fantastic addition to the town centre, an achievement which has provided exemplary shopping and leisure facilities to Bury and the surrounding areas.”