A SHOPPING centre in Runcorn is on the look out for your unwanted Christmas gifts.

Every year most of us will reach into our stockings to find the same aftershave we already own, the same lynx Africa set we never used the year before or another item that will inevitably sit on our shelves collecting dust.

So instead of letting it go to waste, Runcorn Shopping City are asking residents to bring their unwanted or unopened gifts so that they can be swapped in exchange for something else.

This weekend, from Friday to Sunday, anyone who wishes to return their gifts can bring them to one of the many donation stations in the Community Square of the shopping centre.

The following weekend, residents will then be invited back to the same spot to choose another gift in return of the one they donated.

Dave Pearman, manager at Runcorn Shopping City, said: “Christmas is a time for giving and many of us will have received some amazing gifts, however research shows (and we fully appreciate) that almost a fifth of Brits have donated unwanted Christmas gifts to charity before.

 “Shopping City would like to help the local residents of Runcorn be free of what they do not want and allow people to gift them to others who may not have as much, and of course invite them to swap for something they might like for themselves or another. 

“We’re delighted to combine recycling and some thoughtful regifting. 

“Whether you simply have no use for something, want to help your community or a good cause or wish to declutter your home – our January post-Christmas Swap Shop is here for you.”

Any leftover clothing from January’s Swap Shop will go into Shopping City’s existing recycling boxes that remain all year round, and any leftover toys and gifts will be distributed between the centre’s charity shops.