It'S official. People in Carlisle really are among the country's thriftiest shoppers.

Royal Mail has revealed that people living in and around the city were among the places where the most purchases were made on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

The detail emerged as the impact on the wider economy was confirmed, with national figures revealing that non-food sales jumped by 40 per cent during the week including Black Friday.

Carlisle came in at fourth place in Royal Mail's chart of shopping hotspots on what had been billed as the year's key weekend for pre-Christmas bargain hunters.

Extra staff have been working at the city's Junction Street sorting office and delivery centre - and the Black Friday / Cyber Monday demands added to their workload.

The team there are responsible for sorting letters for a massive patch covering the CA and DG postcodes in Cumbria and Dumfries and Galloway.

And its bosses are pushing out a strong festive message.

A spokeswoman said: "Carlisle is one of the top towns and cities in the UK for online purchases for Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year.

"As customers post cards and continue to post Christmas gifts, please could they make sure that they post them early and always use a postcode."

Shops across Cumbria reported healthy trade during the bargain-hunting weekend, even though the bulk of the sales were online.

The latest British Retail Consortium-KPMG survey showed like-for-like sales rose 0.6 per cent in November, up from a 0.4 per cent fall in 2015, as the shopping extravaganza on November 25 provided a boost.

The month was known to have been strong in Carlisle, fuelled by the arrival of Primark.

It's also been confirmed that consumer spending grew at the strongest rate seen in nearly two years - fuelled by a record online spending.

Spending increased by 3.2 per cent year-on-year in November, marking the biggest growth rate seen since January 2015, Visa’s UK Consumer Spending Index found.

Kevin Jenkins, UK and Ireland managing director at Visa, said: "Overall spending growth accelerated to a 22-month high as consumers made the most of the promotions around Black Friday and Cyber Monday."

BLOB Top 10 cyber shopping hotspots: Inverness, Truro, West London, Carlisle, Milton Keynes, Aberdeen, Exeter, Shrewsbury, Lancaster. The list was based on analysis of parcels accepted from retailers and businesses between November 21 and 29.