CHRISTMAS has come early for a Blackburn homeware store which is determined to help residents enjoy the festive period despite the trials this year has presented.

The Range, a home, leisure and gardens retailer selling over 65,000 products based in Greenbank Retail Park on Blakewater Road, has already been notable for its enthusiastic embrace of the holiday in years past.

However, this year the Blackburn branch has been so impressive that company founder Chris Dawson described it as one of the best he has ever seen.

He said: “The Blackburn store have put a huge amount of effort into making their Christmas displays look fantastic this year.

“It is brilliant to see how many different products they have been able to use to show just how vast our festive product selection is.”

Self-made billionaire Mr Dawson founded the chain of stores in 1989, starting life as a market trading stall in the South West of England.

Since then the company has grown to encompass over 175 branches around the UK and Ireland.

As such, Mr Dawson has had amble opportunity to sample all kinds of Christmas displays across his business and still concluded that the Blackburn branch was one of the very best.

Staff will also hope that the Christmas display will help demonstrate the range of products available to customers.

This comes as residents across East Lancashire face a difficult Christmas with many of the usual features of the festive period, from parties to light switching on ceremonies to family gatherings made impossible by the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

Businesses, particularly those in the hospitality trade but also retailers, also face a tough time with shopping likely to be curtailed by ongoing restrictions and by customers more nervous than usual about social mixing.

As such, displays like those at The Range may well help to spread festive cheer in difficult times.