No note for Santa this year

Families will be shelling out an average of £413 on Christmas presents this year, despite the recent financial gloom.

Whilst many parents are keen to keep traditional fruit and nut and cheap toy stocking, other parents will be pushing the boat out by stuffing their kid’s stockings with  Ipod’s,  Nintendo’s, laptops and in some cases airline tickets, holidays and even a Tiffany ring.

Children will be doing well with 40.1 per cent of parents planning to lavish them with ten or more gifts.

The research from online retailer Woolworths also found Santa will be working harder with less thanks for his troubles as only 5 per cent of children will be leaving a letter out for him.