BARGAIN hunters can pick up a smart new outfit for less than £10 at a Headington charity shop after managers slashed prices to boost trade.

All second-hand clothes at the Sobell House Hospice shop in London Road are now on sale for £2 after staff reduced prices.

There are 11 Sobell House charity shops across Oxfordshire and they raise funds for the hospice in the grounds of the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, where a £9m dementia-friendly extension is being planned.

Trading manager Louise Musgrove, who is in charge of Sobell House shops across the county, is supporting the Oxford Mail campaign to raise £40,000 to pay for 100 days of care.

She said: "Some staff attended a charity retail conference and came back with the idea of reducing prices and so we thought we would give it a try.

"We have reduced all our clothes to £2 an item and the policy is working well - we have got big posters up in the window and our footfall and takings have definitely increased.

"There are lots charity shops in the area and this certainly makes us competitive - people are making a special trip to come here and snap up the bargains."

The 48-year-old, who lives with husband Clive near Thame, said some of the clothes were brought in from other stores if they had not sold for two or three weeks.

She added: "Clothes and accessories including handbags are going for £2 and you can get some designer labels and top high street brands, like the black-and-white Zara jersey dress that has just come in.

"Customers can also see what price the item was previously on sale for in the other stores so they know how much of a bargain they were getting.

"The Zara dress was on sale for £7.50 - now it's just £2.

"Sometimes if clothes don't sell they have to be recycled but by selling all our clothes for £2 it means much less is going to recycling."

Mrs Musgrove, the charity's head of retail, has been working with the store's assistant manager Liz Hoxha to push the special promotion which she said would run until further notice.

The initiative is also being tried at the Sobell House shop in Bicester Market Square.

Mrs Musgrove added: "I support the Oxford Mail's campaign to raise £40,000 - we need as much funding as we can get at the moment."

Sobell House is trying to raise £9m towards the cost of a dementia-friendly extension for patients, which would be easier for them to navigate.

To donate money to the Oxford Mail campaign to pay for 100 days of care at Sobell House visit campaign.justgiving.com/charity/shhc/oxmailsobellappeal