Supermarket chain Lidl said its sales rose 24.5% in the four weeks to 25 December compared to the previous year, partly boosted by store openings as well as consumers looking for bargains.

Lidl GB said said more than 1.3 million more customers shopped at its stores in the seven days leading up to Christmas Eve.

It said research by Kantar showed shoppers switched £62.8 million of spend to Lidl from other supermarkets over the four week period – almost three times more than last year.

Chief Executive Ryan McDonnell said: “Every week of the year we are seeing more customers coming through our doors, switching spend to Lidl from the traditional supermarkets.

“We only see this momentum continuing in 2023.”

Lidl GB, part of Germany’s Schwarz retail group, trades from more than 950 stores and is the UK’s sixth biggest supermarket chain with a grocery market share of 7.2%.

Rival German discounter Aldi last week said its UK sales in December were up by 26% on the previous year