But you'd be wrong.

In the last two weeks, one delighted bargain hunter headed home with a new stainless steel sink, still in its plastic-and-cardboard wrapping!

Come rain or shine, hundreds of shoppers set out before 7am to try to secure the best buys on offer at the Broad Street car park.

There are things you need, things you want and things you didn't even know you wanted or needed until you arrived.

For example, those of us who love our music can find vinyl galore, and sometimes even the means to play those sought-after albums and singles.

One man's rubbish is now another's treasure and the emptying of cupboards, garages, war-drobes and attics generates a grass-roots economy where buyers can pick up a bargain in clothing, household goods, plants and gardening accessories – even car and motorcycle bits and pieces – all at knock-down, tax-free prices.

With the squeeze on finances, it is little surprise how successful car-boot sales have become.

For the seller, there's a chance to get rid of dozens of useless items such as toys and clothes the children have lost interest in and grown out of, ornaments that no longer suit the decor and the general collection of clutter that comes with living in one house for a long period of time.

Some sellers take almost the entire contents of their homes because they are emigrating or downsizing and want to rid their lives of all but the barest necessities. With a £10 payment to Calderdale Council for a car-sized pitch, they can make hundreds of pounds from one day's trading.

Buyers can find new, nearly new and in some cases extremely old things. Elland's Andrew Agnew was selling all manner of items because his daughter was going to York University and he was planned to downsize.

Among the treasures he was hoping to sell was an old fire extinguisher – items like this are often bought for use as props by television companies.

Joan Thompson, of Holywell Green, was with her grandson Morgan Thompson, 13. Her car boot included old records by Mario Lanza. "We just come here occasionally – just for fun, as daft as it sounds," she says.

"We got here at 5.45am and there were loads of people here already."

Lee Goodall, 22, of Elland, sells items at Broad Street about once a month.

And Gemma Aveyard, 26, had travelled from Huddersfield with her friend Shannon Ellis to sell unwanted items at Halifax for the first time.

"My mum used to have a bric-a-brac shop in Holmfirth and she used to do this car boot sale regularly," Gemma says.

The sale was a family affair for Anne Ratnik, of Queensbury, her sister Helen Reilly, Helen's son Josh and niece Kelly Emmerson. "We come here quite often. It's holiday money," Anne says.

Brother and sister Corrie, nine, and Nicole Walker-Souster, 10, were with their grandparents, Jean and Alan Walker, and had travelled from Brighouse.

Jean collects model elephants and the family visit the boot sale once a month looking for bargains.

Everyone has a reason why they forego a Sunday morning lie-in to shop and sell at a car boot sale, be it the credit crunch or that one-in-a-million chance of discovering something of real value.

One thing is for certain, the numbers at these events are growing and while the nation collectively stru-ggles to make ends meet, they will only get more popular still.

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