Lidl supermarket scores record Christmas sales boosted by budget lobster

The budget supermarket said sales increased 10 per cent over December, its best festive sales performance

The German discounter revealed that sales grew by 10 per cent in December boosted by strong sales of Christmas vegetables, turkey and cheap lobster (Getty)

Lobsters have helped budget supermarket group Lidl score record sales over the crucial Christmas period.

The strong result might come as a surprise to some, as December tends to be the month when discounters lose out to their higher end rivals as shoppers treat themselves and their families.

The German discounter revealed that sales grew by 10 per cent in December, its best festive sales performance ever, boosted by strong sales of vegetables typically eaten at Christmas, turkey and cheap lobster.

Helped by a Twitter campaign promoting a cut-price lobster at £2.99, the supermarket was able to record 40,000 sales in one day. Turkey sales rose by 40 per cent following an advertising campaign

However, the retailer which now has 650 shops in the UK, did not disclose like-for-like sales for the period, a more widely used industry measure of performance.

Christian Härtnagel, the chief executive of Lidl UK,said: "It's incredibly encouraging that, during this highly competitive time, we have achieved our most successful festive trading period ever.”

"We are unwaveringly committed to helping customers save as much money as possible

"We also remain fully committed to our ongoing expansion plans, which will see the opening of up to 50 new stores next year, along with two new regional distribution centres, creating thousands of new jobs up and down the country."

Britain's supermarkets enjoyed a record festive period, as shoppers splashed out to fuel the fastest growth since June 2014, according to market research group Kantar Worldpanel.

Sales were overall up by 1.8 per cent, but Aldi and Lidl saw far higher growth of 11.8 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively.