ONLINE grocer Ocado has reported a rise in sales over the Christmas period – despite heavy snowfall causing chaos on Britain’s roads.

The Hatfield-based home delivery firm has revealed that gross sales in Christmas week were up 43.5 per cent, to �12.3m.

In the four weeks to December 26, gross sales were �50.9m, up 26.7 per cent from 2009, and despite the heavy snowfall, Ocado said it delivered 98 per cent of customer orders over that period.

Overall, sales for the whole year increased to �551.1m, an increase of 29 per cent on 2009’s profits of �427.3m.

Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner said: “We are delighted to see the continued growth in demand for Ocado, a record number of customers shopped with us in this period.

“This would not have been possible without the heroic efforts of our staff rising to the challenge of delivering a record number of orders in sometimes challenging conditions.

“Our plan for dealing with extreme weather conditions enabled us to make over 98 per cent of deliveries in the affected period.”