Lucky shoppers in Walthamstow found they had been treated to their Christmas shopping as part of Giving Tuesday.

Following on from Black Friday and Cyber Monday, often criticised for promoting materialism, Giving Tuesday is an international day encouraging people to do good and give to charity.

In the spirit of the day, The Mall shopping centre in Walthamstow let some of its shoppers have their purchases on the house.

The lucky few were told the centre was treating them to their goods when they reached the till and were encouraged to carry on the chain of kindness to others.

Alasdair Currie, general manager of The Mall Walthamstow, said: “We were proud to take part in Giving Tuesday and it was wonderful to surprise our customers at the till by paying for their shopping.

“It is always lovely to give back to our shoppers and we hope that our random acts of kindness have helped to inspire others to keep the kindness going.”

As well as paying for customers’ shopping, The Mall also raised money for the Walthamstow Toy Library and Play Centre by handing out special gift sets for a donation.

It also collected more than £150 in donations for the toy centre, which had been named its charity of the year.