VISITORS to a Glasgow shopping centre are being offered the chance to shop-around-the-clock.

Glasgow Fort claims it's the only retail centre in Scotland to offer 32-hours of non-stop shopping from Sunday morning through to Christmas Eve.

The move is a festive first and is expected to be followed by rival shopping centres in coming years.

Major stores at the East End mall will throw open their doors from 9am on Sunday and continue trading through the night until 5pm on Monday.

Fifteen outlets have signed up for the marathon stint at the horse-shoe shaped mall.

Outlets taking part include Boots, Nando's, Gravity, Chicken Cottage, H.Samuel, Thorntons, The Perfume Shop, The Officers Club, Game, Early Learning Centre, Au Naturale, Zavvi and JD Sports.

Some will trade from 9am on Sunday but most will open an hour later.

Other shops at the Easterhouse retail park will open until midnight on Sunday.

Centre manager Phil Goodman said: "Glasgow Fort likes to buck the trend when it comes to Christmas shopping.

"Not only were we the first to establish midnight opening two years ago, but we will now be the only shopping centre in the whole of Scotland where stores will be offering 32 hours of continuous trading.

"Our customers have shown they want greater opportunities to shop and I think they will really respond to the idea they can come any time in the last couple of days before Christmas."

He added: "Midnight shopping has certainly changed people's shopping habits for good, and we are glad to be the first shopping centre to recognise and capitalise on these changing trends.

"We consistently work hard to do things the modern shopper wants which is, without a doubt, paying off."

All-night trading is being backed by Alex Dillon, manager at the Fort's Boots store.

He said: "Due to even more hectic lifestyles the demands from customers for retailers to open longer is ever increasing.

"Boots was one of the first retailers at Glasgow Fort to pioneer midnight trading so successfully and, therefore, it made perfect sense for us to trial 24-hour shopping.

"It provides the opportunity for our customers who work shift patterns, have childcare issues or other commitments' to be able to pick up those last minute gifts without the hassle of being pressurised by time restraints."

The move is expected to be a trend setter with rivals likely to adopt round-the-clock shopping next year.

The Glasgow Fort last year extended midnight opening to two weeks which generated an extra £140million in takings and resulted in stores beating target sales and recording double-digit growth.