The wine warehouse chain Majestic Wine enjoyed a bumper Christmas, posting a strong rise in sales.

The firm said underlying sales during the eight weeks to the end of the year were up by 10.8% compared with the same period last year.

'We are delighted with our sales performance over the Christmas period," said chief executive Tim How.

The firm said it had increased its sales of champagne and wines from southern France, Spain and South Africa.

Majestic also said that it now had 291,000 customers on its mailing list who had bought wine in the last 12 months, a rise of 10.2% over the year.

The company currently operates 103 stores and is looking to expand the number to 150 in the long run.