Christmas has come early for many of Croydon's businesses as the borough's commercial sector gears up for another lucrative festive period.

Businesses have begun putting up displays in a bid to tempt early Christmas shoppers to part with their cash in a campaign that began as early as last month.

High street stores such as Allders and Boots already have dedicated Christmas sections and a string of other companies are following suit.

Matthew Sims, general manager of Croydon Chamber of Commerce, said starting the Christmas period earlier was now commonplace in the borough's commercial sector.

He added: "There will always be a core group that is against starting the Christmas sales period so early, but there seems to be a trend that more and more businesses are making sure they are prepared. It's a very important and lucrative time and of course our businesses want to take advantage.

"The general pattern of things over recent years is for firms to prepare for Christmas a lot earlier. I was in a supermarket a couple of weeks ago and they already have a Christmas department and that illustrates that firms are gearing up for Christmas much earlier."

Andrew McKenzie, chief executive of department store Allders, said: "We plan Christmas like our customers plan Christmas.

"When people get paid at the end of October they may want to buy a few gifts and then the same at the end of November so we've got some lines in from October.

"We plan Christmas 12 months in advance like most other large companies do because we need to plan events like Santa's grotto. Christmas time is very much an ongoing process."

Mr McKenzie added: "We look forward to Christmas, yes it is hard work but it is also fun. Our customers are in good spirits and our staff are in good spirits.

"Our customers have a good time and the store is more profitable so it is a win-win situation for everyone."