Chapelfield Big 10K Giveaway Christmas Shopping Event. Amelia Cullum, 13 months, and mum Frankie, take a break from christmas shoping at Chapelfield's festive shopping event to say hello to Father Christmas. For more information on this story please contact Pippa Lain, Plain Speaking PR, on 07810 751527.

Father Christmas, fancy dress and a £10,000 giveaway got shopping for the festive season off to a great start in Norwich last night.

Chapelfield Shopping Centre opted to replace its traditional lights switch-on event with an evening offering its customers a little financial boost.

A total of 50 shoppers arriving at the mall were greeted by staff handing out £20 gift cards as spot prizes as the centre aimed to give away a total of £10,000 throughout the evening and mark the start of its late-night opening hours.

Sheridan Smith, marketing manager at Chapelfield, said the evening proved a big draw.

She said: “Children enjoyed meeting Father Christmas, having their faces painted and taking part in the fancy dress competitions and families showed off some wicked dance moves in our disco igloo.

“But the main aim of the evening was to launch Christmas shopping in Norwich and, judging by the number of shopping bags in people’s hands, it’s been a great success.”

Radio Norfolk presenter Becky Betts was given the task of judging the fancy dress competition.

Banners hung around the shopping centre revealed details of the winners of some of the prizes handed out last night. But further windfalls of £1,000, £500, and £100 will be revealed on the Chapelfield website tomorrow morning.