Villa Bianca celebrated the beginning of the festive season on Wednesday with a special Christmas party.

The Hampstead restaurant welcomed locals on December 1 to a feast of festive fun including a lights switch-on and Christmas carols by The London Belles.

Sweet treats and mulled wine were handed out to passers-by in Perrin's Court as the family business looked to bring some Christmas cheer to the area.

Director Nicholas Mollura said: “It’s been a tough two years, and with the recent news that something is maybe coming back (the Covid-19 Omicron variant), people have been getting a bit worried and scared again, so we just felt like doing something to put a smile on people’s faces.

“No one knows what’s going to happen in the next couple of weeks but we thought if we do it as soon as possible we could bring that Christmas cheer to Hampstead.

“We’re a bit fed up of the whole situation so we thought ‘well we’ll stop getting angry and we’ll do something fun’.”

Ham & High: The London Belles (front) performed a series of Christmas classicsThe London Belles (front) performed a series of Christmas classics (Image: Polly Hancock)