A JEWELLER has reported a major growth in sales over Christmas compared to the same period last year.

E DeWastney Jewellers, in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, said sales were up 50 per cent on the previous year, helped by strong sales in the three days before Christmas.

Store owner Charlotte Fleming, from Brotton, Cleveland, said: "Shoppers left their present-buying until incredibly late and there was a huge turnaround in trade in the days leading up to Christmas."