By Sean Gannon
Nearly a third of people in Yorkshire have had to make a last-minute trip to a corner shop or convenience store on Christmas Day, a new poll has found.
The survey, which was conducted by Nationwide Building Society, asked people across the UK and found that around 29 per cent of participants from Yorkshire and the Humber had done this.
The most common eleventh-hour purchase was alcohol, followed by milk, soft drinks, batteries, cigarettes, gravy, bread, stuffing, cream and chocolate.
Furthermore, nearly one in five of all those who took part in the survey admitted that they would prefer it if shops would remain open on Christmas Day.
Nationwide’s head of current accounts, Phil Smith, said: “While most people are content with staying at home or visiting loved ones on Christmas Day, a hardcore element are still very much in the mood to shop.
“But with December 25 now the only day when most of the shops are shut across the UK, it is perhaps a bit much to expect staff to give up their Christmas Day to serve the nation at the tills.”
Some 2,000 people took part in the survey, and while Yorkshire’s results were very much in line with the national average, it was found that people in Scotland were the most likely to make a last-minute shopping trip.
More than 40 per cent of those north of the border had made purchases on Christmas Day, while those in London and Wales were jointly the second most likely with 36 per cent.
Meanwhile, East Anglia and the East Midlands were found to be the least inclined to this kind of behaviour, with only 19 per cent saying that they went shopping during the holiday.
These figures come in light of recent arguments over whether shops should remain open over the Christmas holidays, especially after Prime Minister Theresa May refused to back a petition calling for many stores to close on Boxing Day.
Last year, shoppers spent £3.74bn on Boxing Day, according to research from VoucherCodes.co.uk and the Centre for Retail research.