Newcastle's Fenwick Christmas window seen online by 250,000

This year's theme is A Wind in the Willows Story, a festive reimagined-display of the Kenneth Grahame classic

More than 250,000 people tuned in online for the unveiling of this year's Fenwick Christmas window display.

Crowds usually flock to the event at the department store in Newcastle's Northumberland Street, which has had a display for almost 50 years.

But because of Covid-19 it was forced to go virtual for the first time, which in turn attracted a worldwide audience.

This year's theme is A Wind in the Willows Story, a festive reimagined display of the children's classic.

The store's Christmas window display has been running since 1971 and its unveiling has previously attracted about 2,000 people.

The store's Christmas window display has been running since 1971

Kieran McBride, store director, said work on planning the window display started in February.

"The wins to me when it comes to the Christmas window are those packed with nostalgia that you couldn't hide from the comments last night," he told BBC Radio Newcastle.

"The fact that we overcame those challenges and still managed to put on the unveil but in a different guise was a huge achievement but something that we absolutely wanted to do for the whole community."

People are being advised not to make a special trip to see the display during the current lockdown as it will be in place throughout the festive season and into January.

The display, which was unveiled via a live Facebook stream, attracted viewers from as far away as Australia, the USA, Thailand, the UAE, Canada and across Europe, with about 37,000 comments.

The opening of the window has previously attracted about 2,000 people

The window will be in place throughout the festive season and into January