The differences between Britain’s regions extend to our taste in Christmas books and DVDs, according to data from Amazon.
Festive sales patterns show that shoppers put their hands in their pockets based on a love of local sportspeople, singers and comedians.
Popular purchases in the north include the former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard’s biography My Story, and DVDs of the sitcom Car Share featuring the Bolton-born comic Peter Kay.
Online shoppers in the Midlands snapped up I Believe in Miracles, an account of Brian Clough’s European Cup-winning Nottingham Forest team.
They also opted for Alone in the Universe, the 14th album by the Birmingham rock group Electric Light Orchestra.
Local bias was equally evident in Wales, where books by two men with the surname Jones topped the bestseller list. Rugby fans bought Bomb: Adam Jones, the prop forward’s autobiography, and the singer Tom Jones’s autobiography Over The Top And Back also flew off the shelves.
Northern Ireland also hailed a homegrown hero, buying Bring AP, a documentary by the former jockey AP McCoy.Scots went for a DVD by the comedian Kevin Bridges.
Southerners’ tastes were also rooted in their region, but they were mainly interested in food. Deliciously Ella, a healthy eating guide by the London blogger Ella Woodward, did particularly well.
The biggest overall Christmas seller at Amazon, which has been criticised for its meagre tax contribution to UK coffers, was the Tottenham-born singer Adele’s album 25.
Adele has also faced a backlash over her attitude to tax, after saying in 2011 that she was “mortified” to be paying the 50p higher rate of tax.
Amazon’s top-selling item for the year as a whole was The Girl on the Train, a thriller novel by Paula Hawkins.
The online retailer joined several rivals in starting its sales early this year in an attempt to woo shoppers holding out for last-minute bargains.
