Bahrain hypermarkets are doing a booming trade in tents, with at least one store running out yesterday after they were snapped up by protesters to camp out on Pearl Roundabout.

A spokesman for Geant Hypermarket, located in Bahrain Mall, revealed it had sold out of tents, but added more had been ordered and supplies were expected to arrive at any time.

However, a spokesman for Carrefour in Bahrain City Centre said it had tents in stock, but would not elaborate further.

'I went to the malls and found that tents were all sold,' protester Sayed Hisham, from Sanabis, told our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News (GDN).

'But I managed to borrow one from a friend and here we are living out in the open,' Hisham added.

He said the protest had become so popular that people were running out of space to set up camp.

'There is no space now,' he said.

'There are carpets, blankets and cushions everywhere inside the centre circle, so most of the people are now pitching their tents away from the roundabout.'-TradeArabia News Service