FESTIVE flair proved to be in abundance at a Northwich shop that officially has this year’s best Christmas window.

Crafty Stitches, in Witton Street, has been voted the winner of the town centre’s Christmas window dressing competition, run by the Guardian in conjunction with Northwich Town Council.

Readers have been voting for their favourite display and Crafty Stitches, which sells knitting yarn and accessories, won the competition hands down.

The window is based in the theme of the poem ‘Twas the night before Christmas’.

Louise Hough, who designed the display, said: “It’s a mum and daughter in their living room before a night out and it’s the night before Christmas.

“We were thinking about what was on your wish list for Christmas – things like ‘my first sewing kit’, an adults sewing kit and a Christmas jumper all finished and ready to be wrapped up.

“There’s also expensive knitting needles because as a knitter that’s what you would really want for Christmas, and a child’s poncho and a tea cosy on a tea pot – we thought ‘how much can we put in there without it being too much?’.”

She added: “We will theme it again next year because it does create interest.”

Louise, who runs the shop with her mum Joan Hubbard, said she plans the window displays six weeks in advance, working with suppliers on patterns and colour schemes.

Northwich town mayor Clr George Mainwaring presented the winners with a bottle of champagne, a box of chocolates and their winners’ certificate.

He said: “This is the kind of shop that does good for Northwich and values its customers.

“It’s an excellent window display – 10 out of 10.”