In pictures: Telford Town Centre lights up for Christmas

The centre saw a reindeer petting park, elves and Father Christmas himself take part in the festivities on Saturday.

Crowds cheered as a blast of confetti covered the front rows of children watching Santa Claus flick the switch which saw the shopping centre light up.

Throughout the day a number of activities and entertainment were put on, kicking-off with Santa's Grotto at 11am.

A Mrs Claus Cookie Workshop, beat-boxing elves and a Santa letter writing service also featured, which saw more than 500 letters delivered.

The winners of Telford's Got Talent, Intrigue, were also given a time to shine on stage, performing their mother and daughter singing duo act.

Katie Broome, marketing manager at Telford Shopping Centre, said it was one of the most popular switch-ons yet.

"It's been absolutely packed out throughout the whole day," she said.

"We've had lots of family entertainment on and I think it's been another successful day here with lots of people coming through.

"That's what makes the day so special for so many people – seeing the children enjoy the events and of course the lights is brilliant.

"We always want to make it big and you can't get much bigger then Father Christmas to come and do the honours of turning on the lights.

"It's difficult to explain just how many people have come through the doors, it's been an incredibly busy day for not just the retailers, but also the festive events we've had on."

Charlotte Dunne, event manager at Moo and Goo, providing the day's activities, said: "We host events all around the country and Telford's has no doubt been a stand out.

"We've had a constant flow of people visiting all our festive events and our staff have been rushed off their feet all day long, especially in the children's activities.

"It's been nice to see our variety of events attract such large amounts of people."