The Rev Michael Cavanagh said he was appalled that some supermarkets opened on Christmas Day.

"It was a completely cynical indictment of everything that they said about Sunday opening and it was the final straw for me," he said.

"They are out to make every single last penny and it devalues Christmas more than anything.

"They then closed on New Year's Day so that people could get over their hangovers which just showed how cynical the retail industry is." But despite the nation's shopping frenzy, hundreds attended church services in the Knutsford area throughout Christmas.

Mr Cavanagh said members of his congregation had to stand outside High Legh Church to sing their Christmas carols as the pews filled up.

It was a similar story at Tabley where churchgoers collected presents for the poor children of Europe.

"Christmas just breaks through people who have a deep-seated need to make it bigger than just a shopping festival," he said.

More than 1,000 worshippers walked through the doors of Knutsford's Methodist Church over Christmas.

St John's Parish Church was also busy.

The Rev Melvyn Gray, a former school teacher, said almost 200 gathered for every service at St Wilfrid's in Mobberley.

"A lot of people have a residual Christianity and feel somehow that it is the right place to be at Christmas," he said.

"People who don't attend during the year will turn up at Christmas and Easter."

But he added: "Increasingly, though, the people who don't come at all are not even turning up on special occasions."