Expensive pudding proving a Christmas hit

It may be the gloomiest festive season for years but there is still money being spent on that most traditional of indulgences - the Christmas pudding.

Harrods says it has been overwhelmed by demand for its most expensive pudding ever, a £49.95 special that is more than twice the price of its next dearest version.

A team spent more than a year developing what it describes as "a top-secret recipe" and travelled the world to source ingredients. Each 900g pudding comes in a velvet box, is individually numbered and serves four to six.

Matthias Kiehm, business unit director for the Harrods Food Halls and Restaurants, said: "We simply could not have predicted this unprecedented response - this pudding is proving a massive hit."