THE smiles are wide as three delighted winners of an Andover Advertiser Christmas hamper collect their bottles of champagne and festive goodies in an event, the first ever for the newspaper, which has attracted thousands of entries.

Editor Joe Scicluna said the competition which has two more weeks to run had proved popular with readers. An entry coupon is included in today's edition of the Andover Advertiser.

"We have been swamped with entries. This has been an exceedingly popular competition with our readers who seem to have enjoyed themselves trying to win a hamper. We are very pleased with the response. It has been a bit of festive fun for everyone."

The Andover Advertiser Christmas hamper competition was run in conjunction with the Tesco superstore at River Way.