DOZENS of last minute shoppers queued for up to an hour outside a butchers in Belsize Park this morning (December 24) to pick up the meat for tomorrow s Christmas feast. The England s Lane Butchers was easily the most popular shop in the street with at le

DOZENS of last minute shoppers queued for up to an hour outside a butchers in Belsize Park this morning (December 24) to pick up the meat for tomorrow's Christmas feast.

The England's Lane Butchers was easily the most popular shop in the street with at least 30 people lined up outside, bracing themselves against the cold while they waited to collect the choice cuts for tomorrow's dinner.

Dan Young, of Thurlow Road, had been waiting nearly half an hour and was still out in the cold, barely half way along the queue.

"I'm getting a ham," he said. "Someone else is taking care of the turkey this year. This has been my regular butchers since I moved here eight years ago. Even though there's not a lot of competition around apart from the supermarkets, they are a very fine butchers and it's worth the wait this morning."

Alex Hannon, of South Hill Park, was at the back of the queue and had been there for 10 minutes.

"I'm here to buy my turkey and my ham, which I'm very glad I ordered beforehand," she said. "They're very good - I do this every year.