SHORT TAKES : Squealers, Dealers Jam Harrods

Screaming teen-age girls trying to glimpse pop star Jason Donovan thronged Harrods today, vying with bargain-hunters at the start of the department store’s winter sale.

Donovan arrived at the store in a horse-drawn carriage and then joined Harrods Chairman Mohammed Al Fayed in officially opening the sale.

Teen-agers pushed one another to the floor as Al Fayed led the Australian singer through the menswear department and food halls, accompanied by pipers from the Caledonian Highlanders.

Laura Stoten, 14, who came to the store with two friends from north London, said she had no intention of buying anything.

“It is hot and crowded, but we’ve seen Jason Donovan and that’s enough. We’ve never seen him before,” she said, clutching a photograph of her idol.

Donovan, caught in the throng of fans and security guards, didn’t have a chance to buy anything.