Pictures: Peter Andre lights up Telford as Christmas is go

The Strictly Come Dancing star said it was "great" to be in the town yesterday evening.

He lit up Telford shopping centre at 6pm last night, but fans were queueing up since early in the morning.

Peter, who rose to fame in 1996 thanks to his hit singles Mysterious Girl and Flava, said: "I can't believe it is Christmas already, can you believe it is already that time of year?

"I was first in talks for Strictly in May and then I think we signed in June or July and since then the time has just flown by.

"The crowd is fantastic. I said on stage it is only in England where people will stand out in the cold for something like this. It is really sweet.

"I made a joke saying maybe they had got the time of the switch-on wrong and thought it was 7am. It has been really good to meet people one-on-one, that really is the fun part of the job."

On stage, the 42-year-old was presented with a shirt from the town's ice hockey team the Telford Tigers.

He said: "This would have looked great in my Flava video.

"I was a bit disappointed when I saw it had 73 on the back, but it is the year I was born, not my age."

Peter pushed the plunger on stage in the Red Oak Car Park at Telford Shopping Centre, marking the beginning of Christmas celebrations in the town and the opening of this year's Santa's Grotto.

It may have been a wet and windy night but that didn't stop hundreds of Peter Andre fans heading to Telford.

They travelled from all over to see the Mysterious Girl singer switch-on Telford Shopping Centre's Christmas Lights.

The star was joined on stage by some of the cast of this year's Oakengates Theatre pantomime, Snow White, Alex Winter from CBeebies and characters from the Disney film Frozen.

There were huge crowds in the Red Oak Car Park to enjoy the event, with some fans queueing from as early as 7am yesterday morning to catch a glimpse of the star.

Peter said: "It is amazing to see everybody here."

Among those who came to enjoy the event were Clare Gibbs and daughter Georgie, three, who had travelled from Worcester.

Georgie has Spastic Diplegic Cerebral Palsy and her parents are fundraising for an operation to help improve her movement in her legs.

Clare said: "We have met Peter before but we are desperate to see him again."

Also in the crowd was Kerrie Gray from Dawley with her two daughters Lauren, eight, and Abigail, 10, who attend Dawley Church of England Primary. The family were enjoying the show from under their umbrellas.

Kerrie said: "We only managed to catch the last bit of Peter Andre, but it has been a good day for the kids, although a bit wet."

Tracy Hadley, marketing manager for Telford Shopping Centre, said: "It has been a lovely night.

"We've had a fantastic audience, some got here at 7am when we were still building the stage. To see all these people enjoying themselves has made it all worthwhile."