CHRISTMAS jumpers, a smiling Santa and hundreds of mince pies were just some of the cheery sights that customers enjoyed as Poundbakery staff on School Road in Sale celebrated Christmas……..in July.

The bakery chain said that the day was a great success.

Not only did sales of mince pies increase by more than 50 per cent but there were lots of customers wanting to take photos of the staff wearing their Christmas jumpers.

Area sales manager, Anthony Coburn said: “Christmas is such a magical time of year and our award-winning mince pies are so popular that we sell them all year round.

"Apparently in Australia Christmas is celebrated in July so we thought we’d introduce a bit of Christmas cheer over here too.”