A cracking idea as shoppers try to win £50,000

HUNDREDS of shoppers took part in a safe cracking challenge over the weekend.

A special safe containing £50,000 appeared in the Galleries shopping centre on Saturday and then moved to the Podium in Broadmead on Sunday.

Shoppers queued up to get the chance to crack the six-figure code on the safe throughout the weekend. And two lucky visitors also were given the chance to win £1,000 each.

Everyone who took part in the challenge filled in a form with their name and address and two winners will be announced this week.

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The challenge is being repeated next week in Broadmead and Cabot Circus and is part of a major new campaign to promote Bristol as a premier shopping destination.

Presenters from Heart FM will also be in the city centre supporting the campaign.

For the first time since Cabot Circus opened for business four years ago the three main partners in the city centre have joined forces to work on a marketing campaign.

The aim is to cement Bristol's place as one of the country's leading shopping centres.

Since the £500 million Cabot Circus opened in the autumn of 2008 Bristol has soared up the retail rankings in terms of money spent.

The city is on the verge of joining the top 10 and last year visitors spent more than £1 billion in the city.

The campaign will introduce the new Bristol Shopping Quarter brand to the public in the city and further afield.

As well as spreading the message in the city other areas are also being targeted.

A spokesman for Destination Bristol, which has helped to coordinate the campaign, said: "Despite the downturn, Bristol city centre is now one of the top shopping destinations in the country.

"Just a few years ago you would have described the Bristol shopping experience as third division and we are now in the Premier League.

"The city has not always punched its weight in terms of retail spend but we are now on the verge of joining the top 10 across the UK.

"We are a broad church. We have the country's second largest Primark store and of course the Harvey Nicholls store.

"The beauty of Bristol city centre is that we offer something for everyone."

He added: "We knew we had to improve things and the arrival of Cabot Circus and Quakers Friars has made Bristol the best shopping destination in the south west.

"A few years ago there would have been no chance of a store of the calibre of Apple coming to Bristol but obviously that has changed now."

In the past, Bristol lost out to rivals such as Bath and Cheltenham and even Cardiff.

"The aim now is to overtake rival centres and to cement the city centre's place as the premier destination in the South West."

The Destination Bristol spokesman said: "This is the first time that the whole of the city centre has come together to work in the same direction.

"We want to establish the Bristol Shopping Quarter brand and this is an incredibly exciting new era for everyone involved. The retail sector has struggled as a result of the recession but Bristol has gone from strength to strength.

"The intention is to build on the progress we have made in recent years."