Supermarket chain Sainsbury’s defied the general high street gloom by enjoying a record Christmas.

Like for like sales for the third quarter rose 3.9 per cent, with total sales up 5.3 per cent, exclusing fuel.

The company said that 22.6 million customers visited the stores over the Christmas period.

Unlike Marks & Spencer, which saw sales decline and announced store closures and job cuts, Sainsbury’s is taking on more staff, opening new stores and extending others.

Justin King, chief executive, said: "Sainsbury’s good trading performance has continued over the past 13 weeks resulting in like-for-like sales growth, excluding fuel, of 4.5 per cent, with our best ever Christmas performance completing a good overall third quarter."

He added: "We have continued to develop the Sainsbury’s offer and demonstrated our ability to respond to rapidly changing customer needs."

But the company warned that like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, would be affected by the downturn in 2009.

Sainsbury’s success was despite a fierce trading war with rivals Tesco, Asda and Morrisons. Discounters such as Aldi and Lidl have also taken market share from the bigger players.

Mr King added: "The economic environment remains particularly challenging and we expect this to continue in 2009, however our continued investment in price and promotions along with universal appeal and a wide customer base means we are well positioned to continue our good progress."