A pensioner who camped outside a furniture shop for three days to be head of the queue for the January sale spent just £10 when she finally got inside – on a present for someone else.

Brenda Adams, 75, set up a camping chair outside Silcox Son & Wicks in Bath at 4.30pm on Christmas Eve.

The Western Daily Press reported earlier this week how she slept in her Vauxhall Tigra parked a few yards away and during her stay she endured drunken abuse from youths, who stole her walking stick.

But despite her feat of endurance, the retired nurse didn’t actually want or need any furniture. So when the doors finally opened at 9am on Tuesday she picked up a £200 chest of drawers for her grandson Joshua for just £10.

Mother-of-two Ms Adams said the 65-hour challenge was simply an “interesting way to spend Christmas”.

She said: “By my stage of life you’ve seen every type of Christmas going – happy ones, sad ones, interesting ones and boring ones. I just wanted to do something different.

“I’m not interested in just sitting around being fed and watered, I like to experience new things. I don’t need any furniture – I have a house full of it – but I had to have a goal for this whole thing, so I thought I’d get something for Joshua. It’s been a wonderful experience. There have been a few small incidents but on the whole everyone has been so kind.”

Widower Ms Adams set out her stall on Christmas Eve and attached a laminated note to her camping chair laying claim to the first spot in the queue. Silcox Son & Wicks stages a legendary sale every year, and shoppers come from miles around to pick up £1,000 pieces of furniture for as little as £100.

People often queue through the night to be first in line – but no-one has ever shown the dedication of Brenda, who lives in Newbridge, Bath, just over a mile from the store.

She said: “My children tried to persuade me not to but I wanted to do it.

“It is a bit like camping and a step back to my childhood.

“I put my chair out on Christmas Eve and a laminated note to say that I was here first.

“There have been a few small incidents this year, one young man kicked my chair as he passed and a partygoer stole my walking stick but I’m not angry, it is all part of life.

“Sleeping in the car has been a bit cramped but I have been entertained by my portable radio.”

By the time the doors opened yesterday a queue of around 50 had built up behind Ms Adams.

She had already spotted the drawers she wanted and went straight in to snap them up – and was back out of the door again within ten minutes.

The drawers will now be put in storage until Joshua, 20, has finished university and moves into his own property.

Grandmother-of-one Ms Adams said: “They are a beautifully-made piece of furniture, well worth the money.

“All the staff inside were lovely, it has been a lovely festive period.”