Bakers at Bettys face being plum pudding tuckered by Christmas

Staff at Bettys Bakery in Harrogate are handcrafting 2,500 Father Christmas biscuits in readiness for the festive season.

The biscuits and pieces of decorative marzipan are cut out by hand before confectioners pipe on details with icing.

The bakery’s workforce will have made more than 130,000 mince pies, over 9,000 Christmas puddings and in excess of 20,000 Christmas cakes by the time December 25 eventually arrives.

Bakery confectionery specialist Gemma Pickup said: “It’s a blizzard of Christmas activity here and the busiest time of year for Bettys. While the forecast for festive trade across the country is uncertain, early sales show us there’s every reason to be hopeful of a good Christmas.”

Among Bettys’ best-selling specialities are its Christmas fruit cake in a tin and vintage port fruit cake.

And despite the financial gloom enveloping the nation, some of Bettys’ more affluent customers have snapped up one of the afternoon tea experience gift boxes – which come with a price tag of £1,000.