John Lewis has seen its like-for-like Christmas sales come in almost five per cent ahead at £777 million.

The department store retailer said that in the five weeks to December 27 sales from physical shops were actually flat.

However online sales grew by 19 per cent with more than half of online orders subsequently collected in store.

The company said it had seen a noticeable uplift in sales around the Black Friday date on November 28.

That trend, imported from the United States where retailers provide large discounts after Thanksgiving, helped John Lewis to the largest week of sales in its 150 year history.

Andy Street, John Lewis managing director, said: "The investments we have made and the new capabilities we have built in recent years in distribution and IT have been fundamental in ensuring we successfully navigate this changing shape of trade."