Savvy shoppers could bag themselves a late new year bargain as Great Yarmouth department store Palmers prepares to launch a £2m mega sale.

The store’s warehouse has become snowed under with stock from its five regional branches that was not snapped up in January - as bad weather kept shoppers at bay - and space is now needed to make room for next season’s lines.

And bosses are hoping to clear the way by launching a huge sale at the flagship Great Yarmouth store.

Unsold stock from its four sister branches in Bury St Edmunds, Dereham and Lowestoft are being brought to Yarmouth for the bargain bonanza, which opens next week.

David Howard, managing director at Palmers, said Christmas trading had been ok, matching last year’s figures, but the January sales had been “really poor” due to the bad weather, and the store had far too much stock as it got ready for the spring season.

He added: “We’re holding back deliveries now because we need to clear the warehouse. We just need to clear a lot of stock, overall we’ve got about £2m worth.

“We’ve got all of the stock from the other branches, including ranges we don’t normally sell (in Yarmouth). There’s extra brands coming into Yarmouth that customers wouldn’t have seen before.

“And a big chunk of the stock, about £250,000 worth, is furniture.”

So much surplus stock is coming to Yarmouth that staff are closing the store the day before the big sale to accommodate it all and get it on display.

Mr Howard said items will be slashed to at least half price and some lines may carry discounts of up to 70pc. There will also be extra savings for early bird shoppers who are the first through the doors when the sale launches at 8.30am next Wednesday, and staff are expecting lines of eager shoppers to greet them in the morning.

“We’re expecting queues,” Mr Howard added.

“We’ve been promoting the event quite well and it’s on market day so the town will be quite busy.”

Palmers, a family run business that was founded in Great Yarmouth in 1837, celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2012. As part of the celebrations staff welcomed Prince Charles into the Yarmouth store last February. Once inside his royal highness watched a make up demonstration and chatted to staff.

? The sale starts at 8.30am on Wednesday, February 13 and will run for just over three weeks.

The Great Yarmouth branch will be closed on February 12.