Shoppers brushed aside fears Britain is teetering on the brink of another recession to queue in their thousands outside Westfield Stratford City, Europe’s newest and biggest urban shopping centre, on opening day.They piled through doors to the £1.8bn mall in east London when they opened at 8am (0700GMT) yesterday, hoping for bargains at the about 250 stores run by brands including Apple, Forever 21 and Superdry.The 1.9mn square foot complex, whose so-called anchor tenants are Marks & Spencer, John Lewis and Waitrose and which stands at the gateway to London’s 2012 Olympic park, was opened in a ceremony including a performance by Nicole Scherzinger, former lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls.“The first day’s about excitement,” said Arefa Rahman, a 48-year-old civil servant, who travelled by train from Chigwell, Essex, and headed straight for the cashpoint, emerging with a thick wad of £20 notes.Winnie Wethie, a 22-year-old student from Deptford, southeast London, had arrived at the complex at 0500GMT to be first in the queue of trendy US fashion retailer Forever 21.She said she was planning “big time spending”. “I’m going to do it very cleverly because if I spend now it will save me a lot for the rest of the year because there’s a lot of discounts. Technically I’m saving money in the long run.”The mall, officially opened by London Mayor Boris Johnson and the chairman of Australian developer Westfield Frank Lowry, also boasts 70 places to dine, a 17-screen Vue cinema, Britain’s largest casino, operated by Aspers, three hotels and a 14-lane bowling alley.Recent surveys have shown both UK consumer confidence and sales falling, while a report last week showed nearly one in seven British shops standing vacant. Consumers’ purchasing power is being squeezed by higher prices, muted wage growth, a lack of credit, job insecurity, a stagnant housing market, government austerity measures and fears of eventual interest rate rises.Analysts believe riots in several UK cities last month and a sharp decline in the stock market may have a further negative impact on sentiment.But Westfield is confident Stratford City, already 95% leased, will emulate the success of its sister mall at White City, west London, which also launched during a turbulent economic environment in 2008 but sailed through the recession.“Westfield has put an enormous amount of energy into making an offer of real scale and excitement, and with John Lewis anchoring it, we’re confident between us we can make a market here in Stratford,” John Lewis retail director Andrew Murphy said.“I think the Olympics is just the icing on the cake.”Westfield expects three quarters of all Olympic spectators to walk directly through the centre. But across the road from Westfield Stratford City, market traders in the Stratford Centre mall that previously dominated retailing in the area had mixed feelings. “It may destroy us or it may make us busier,” said Norman Williams, who has run a men’s clothing stall there for 25 years.“If it brings people in from Chelmsford, Woodford, Epping and we get 10% of them, it may work out better for us, but we don’t know.”