CHRISTMAS came early for East Lancashire shoppers who met the Grinch as he tried to steal Christmas.

Shoppers were astounded to see the green and grumpy furry fiend, a character in a Dr Seuss book and a film, approach them in Blackburn’s Tesco superstore.

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The showcase was organised by Accrington-based events company Just Imagine and founder of the business Danielle Smith, filmed the whole thing.

The video has now been shared more than 20,000 times on Facebook and Danielle said she is hoping it will get more hits in the run up to Christmas.

“We can’t believe the success that we have had with The Grinch. We originally planned to bring him out at Christmas time but he made an appearance from demand much earlier, “He has been popular with adults and children alike and not at all scary,” said the 26-year-old entrepreneur.

This year Just Imagine performers will be putting on a production of The Grinch Experience – Grow Your Heart Three Sizes, to be held at Accrington Town Hall on December 3.

The performance will be followed with a meet and greet session.

Danielle, who lives in Baxenden, said: “We wanted to bring something different to East Lancashire for people to enjoy and talk about.

“The Grinch Experience is an excellent production which proves that people don’t have to travel out of Accrington to the major cities such as Manchester or Liverpool for entertainment. They will get a quality performance on their doorstep.”

The professional theatre company set up in September this year and has since grown ‘rapidly’ now employs 18 members of staff.

“The aim was to bring quality performances to Accrington and beyond and that’s what we are doing The business has grown so quickly,” said Danielle.