The British arm of German discount supermarket chain said sales rose 2.6% in the four weeks ending 26 December.

Like rival Aldi on Monday, it said it had benefited from shoppers switching from other grocers.

However, also like Aldi, it refused to reveal data on whether its growth had been achieved at stores already open for more than a year or at newly-opened stores.

Eight sites opened to shoppers for the first time in December alone.

Lidl's claim to be the fastest growing bricks and mortar retailer during the festive season came under pressure from Nielsen data which suggested that Marks and Spencer had enjoyed grocery sales growth of 9.4% in the 12 weeks to 1 January.

M&S is yet to release its own trading update.

Lidl said it achieved £21m of switching gains from other food retailers with sales up 21% on a two-year basis.

The company reported that its Christmas jumpers played "a starring role on and off screen" after featuring in its Christmas advert, becoming the fastest selling product in the 'Middle of Lidl' aisle.

Approximately one jumper was sold every two seconds on its first day of sale in November, it said.

Lamb proved a popular alternative to turkey for the 25th December, it added, with Christmas pudding sales up 25% on 2020 as fewer COVID restrictions allowed more families to be together.

The company used its update to reassure customers it was mindful that surging inflation was placing pressure on household budgets and it pledged to be "the destination for the lowest grocery prices".

Christian Härtnagel, Lidl GB CEO, said: "Despite ongoing challenges with the pandemic, customers continued to find ways to celebrate this Christmas.

"Our high quality, low priced festive ranges proved a hit, helping us achieve a record Christmas with footfall and sales beating the previous two years."