Ian Ruck marvels at the illuminated wooden shacks and the smell of freshly baked sweets, bread and mulled wine that fill Birmingham's central Victoria Square.

"It feels so festive and Christmassy here. England doesn't normally look like that at this time of the year", says Mr Ruck, who has come from nearby Leicester to the "Frankfurt Christmas Market" in Birmingham. "It's a shame they have to come from Germany to make it look like that".