Amazon.co.uk is claiming this Christmas was its best ever with sales peaking on 10 December.

The UK version of the site also sold more than ever before. In its busiest 24 hours the UK site sold 700, 000 items. The busiest day, 10 December, was a week later than last year which Amazon claimed showed an increased faith in its ability to deliver on time.

Top selling DVD was The Bourne Ultimatum followed by The Simpsons Movie.

The gadgets which showed most sales growth compared to last year were digital photo frames followed by GPS devices.

The Christmas surprise success story was "Do Ants Have Arseholes? And 101 Other Bloody Ridiculous Questions" by Jon Butler and Bruno Vincent which is currently at Number 4 in Amazon's best seller chart.

Amazon.com also celebrated its best ever Christmas. The US site took orders for 5.4m items on its busiest day - also 10 December. Amazon shares rose over two per cent yesterday on the news.