A Sunday newspaper published on a Saturday for the first time in almost a century during the festive season.

The Sunday Post’s Christmas special went on sale on Christmas Eve breaking its usual habit of not publishing in a week when Christmas Day falls on a Sunday.

The Christmas Eve edition featured festive stories, quizzes, a short story, a free keepsake from its cartoons Oor Wullie and The Broons, and a free in10 magazine.

It was the first time since 1917 that the Dundee-based Post had published on a Saturday, and a front page wrap marked the occasion.

Editor Richard Prest said: “Traditionally when Christmas has fallen on a Sunday we haven’t published, but earlier this year we thought why not? Our readers love the paper so we decided they shouldn’t miss out on their favourite read this Christmas.

“From there the team set about creating an edition that tried to capture the spirit of Christmas. We made a conscious decision that it should only contain uplifting, inspirational and fun stories given the time of year.

“So that’s what we did and we were delighted by the response from the public who bought it in huge numbers, way beyond what was initially expected.

“As clichéd as it sounds, this was true team effort from editorial, advertising, marketing, circulation, production and also the retailers who got right behind a product that wouldn’t ordinarily be on sale on a Saturday.”