Online retailer Ocado has reported its best Christmas to date with year-on-year sales growth up 25 per cent in the four weeks to January 3.

During the Christmas week, Ocado said sales rocketed 97 per cent on the previous year, with the delivery of some 3,445 tons of goods. It experienced record-breaking sales of more than£2 million on the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday before Christmas.

Ocado co-founder Jason Gissing said: “Our pace of growth is incredibly exciting as it shows we are growing through a tough recession. Ocado enjoyed a great Christmas and this year already we’ve beaten our record for deliveries in a day.

"Given that customers are responding positively to the massive expansion of what we sell, to continually high standards of customer service and to things like our Tesco Price Match guarantee and the Ocado Everyday value range, we’re expecting growth to continue.”

For the four weeks to November 30, Ocado reported year-on-year sales growth of 17 per cent.

Gissing added: “The internet is thriving and I think that Ocado, now in its eighth year of trading, reflects that trend. We’re still a minnow in food retailing but there’s lots more we aim to do and the signs are very encouraging.”