Lidl has celebrated a record Christmas in the UK as customers switched to the discount supermarket for festive treats including panettone and pink prosecco. Sales at the chain rose by 17.9% in the four weeks to 27 December, compared with the same period a year earlier. The increase was larger than those at the nation’s four biggest supermarkets – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons – and the fellow discounter Aldi. Customers’ taste for premium food and drink over the Christmas period boosted their spend, and sales of Lidl’s Deluxe range climbed by 22%. Lidl shoppers bought more than 1m bottles of pink prosecco during the festive period, as well as 2.7m servings of panettone. An average of 17,000 Deluxe mince pies an hour were sold during December. The store’s first branded Christmas jumper, featuring the logo as part of a festive design, was popular, with one sold every minute in the month to 27 December. British supermarkets notched up their biggest month on record in December, spending £11.7bn on take-home groceries, according to analysts at the research group Kantar, as coronavirus restrictions led to the closure of many restaurants, pubs and cafes during the key trading period. Lidl said shoppers bought more goods – with basket size increasing by almost 25% year on year – and British households switched £34.7m of spend to Lidl from other supermarkets. Christian Härtnagel, the chief executive for Lidl GB, said its record sales and basket size growth demonstrated the strength of the chain’s appeal. “Despite this Christmas being a difficult time for many across the country, we are pleased to have been able to help our customers enjoy themselves by offering high-quality food at the lowest prices on the market,” he said. In December, Härtnagel joined the ranks of supermarket bosses who said they would return the government’s business rates relief. The privately owned German chain said it would give back more than £100m. Lidl opened four new stores in the UK in December, including in Southampton and Nottingham, creating 120 jobs. It is investing £1.3bn over the next two years to help to reach a target of 1,000 stores in the UK by 2023.