Waitrose feasts on Eurovision boost

If you’re going to stay in for an evening of cheesy pop, camp presenters and political voting à la Eurovision, you may as well munch on the continent’s finest cuisine.

That’s ready meals of chicken kiev and meatballs, with Danish pastries for dessert, according to the latest figures from Waitrose. It saw sales of Danish pastries rise 17.5 per cent, meatballs by 31 per cent and chicken kievs by 45 per cent in the Eurovision week to 18 May.

Overall revenues through Waitrose’s tills rose 9.4 per cent to £115.3m. It said the rise was because more Britons stayed in, not just for Eurovision, won by Denmark’s Emmelie de Forest, pictured, but also for the final day of the Premier League.