Shoppers have flocked to MFI stores as the defunct retailer offered discounts of up to 80 per cent following its administration last week.

Police were called to MFI's Exeter shop when one bargain-hunter tried to unscrew a cabinet from a display and at the weekend there were reports of fights between shoppers desperate to grab cheap wares.

MFI was put into administration for the second time in two months last Wednesday, when Woolworths also hit the buffers.

Woolworths is also said to have experienced a footfall spike after news of its collapse emerged.