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Chocolate retailer Thorntons has reported like-for-like sales over Christmas went up by 1.2 per cent.

In a difficult festive period for high street stores, the firm said that in the 14 weeks to January 12th total sales had grown by 7.6 per cent.

Sales from its own stores went up by 2.4 per cent to £56.7 million, while franchise sales increased by ten per cent to £6.2 million.

In the period Thorntons has added eight new stores and 31 new franchises, the company said.

The firm also said its commercial sales had grown by 24.9 per cent to £16.6 million and that sales in Thorntons Direct had grown by 20.5 per cent to £4.1 million.

"The improvements in our customer offer underpin the continued progress that we have achieved across all sales channels," Mike Davies, Thornton's chief executive, said.

"We will continue to focus on product innovation, store improvements and customer service. While the outlook for the retail sector is challenging, the company remains on course to meet market expectations."

Following the release of its latest figures, shares in the company increase by just under one per cent to 155.5p after early trading on the stock exchange.