The unstoppable success story of Tesco continued over the Christmas period with the company reporting strong sales growth.

Like-for-like sales, excluding new store openings, climbed 5.7 per cent in the seven weeks to January 7.

The Tesco Finest range was reported to have sold extremely well, and its online business claimed a record breaking one million orders in the four weeks before Christmas.

Total sales, including new stores, grew by 11.5 per cent - buoyed by a 16.1 per cent jump in international sales during the same period.

The retailer continues to stay well ahead of nearest rivals Asda and Sainsbury’s.

Last Thursday Sainsbury’s announced a 5.2 per cent like-for-like sales rise, while Asda said sales had been higher than the 2.8 per cent same-store sales reported by Morrisons.

TNS figures also revealed Tesco has bolstered its market share by 1.5 per cent to 30.5 per cent, Asda remains in second place with 16.7 per cent and Sainsbury’s third at 16.2 per cent.

Tesco finance director Andrew Higginson told BBC Radio 4 he was "delighted" with the group's performance.

"The thing we are most delighted about is that we had such a fantastic Christmas last year - to have held onto the gains we made then and then push on again with 5.7 per cent this time means we've had a very strong Christmas,” he said.

Looking ahead, Tesco said it expected sales to grow between 3 per cent and 4 per cent over the coming year.

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