CHILDREN brought smiles to the faces of Christmas shoppers when they put on their school nativity play — in a supermarket.

Youngsters from Bolton's SS Peter and Paul RC Primary School sang classic and modern Christmas carols and acted out the story of the birth of Jesus Christ at the front entrance of the Sainsbury's store in Trinity Street.

It proved to be a handy shopping trip for Mary and Joseph, who celebrated their new arrival by picking up some nappies for Baby Jesus.

The group of 32 Year Four children were joined by school staff and Sainsbury's workers.

The school was asked to perform at Sainsbury's as it is the closest educational institution to the store.

Trish Grogan, headteacher at the school, said the nativity went down well with shoppers at the supermarket.

She said : "The performance the children put on was amazing — I'm delighted at how they rose to the occasion. They are fantastic singers and to go out of school and perform like that is an outstanding achievement.

"It was great to see people coming through the door who stopped what they were doing to applaud us.

"Kailish, who played Joseph, said to me that he was happy they made people smile."

Adam Stopford, customer service manager at Sainsbury's, said he was impressed with the way the children acted out the nativity.

He said: "The children were a credit to their school and represented it very well. They attracted a lot of attention at the front of the store and they were a talented group.

"We were especially glad we could meet Mary and Joseph's shopping needs!"

Nine-year-old Kailash Patel played Joseph and eight-year-old Zuzia Orzechowska played Mary in the nativity, which was directed by SS Peter and Paul Year Four teacher Oliver Kay.

While at Sainsbury's, the school also collected £78 for Winter Watch, a charity which provides homeless people with company, food, clothing, showers, health and housing information.