THE countdown to Christmas has begun in Yate after the festive lights were switched on by pop star Peter Andre.

Thousands of excited fans queued for hours to catch a glimpse of the celebrity singer in one of the biggest events ever to come to Yate Shopping Centre.

After performing his forthcoming single Unconditional to a crowd of 1,500 people, Australian-born Peter told the Gazette: "It was unbelievable. What I find fascinating is that only the great British public would gather all day in all kinds of weather. In Australia if the temperature drops below 20 degrees people don’t wait around."

He added: "It has been amazing and I am fascinated by the Bristol accent. The only sad thing is that I am not going to get to meet everyone. Ideally, I would love to do that."

The star and ex-husband of glamour model Katie Price met Yate town councillors and Northavon MP Steve Webb during a reception in the shopping centre offices.

He also spent time meeting and greeting a number of fans including six-year-old Jack Brookes, who has bone cancer.

Jack, from Emersons Green, chatted with Peter who has two children with Katie Price and adopted her son Harvey before they split earlier this ear.

Jack’s mum Lucy, 24, said: "He was fantastic and so supportive. He asked Jack how he was coping and said to keep fighting. Jack thought it was better than meeting Santa."

Peter then turned on the shopping centre lights live on stage.

Mayor of Yate Cllr Ian Blair said: "I think the people of Yate would thank the shopping centre for inviting such a well-known figure like Peter Andre to turn the lights on.

"The lights switch on is always an exciting evening and Peter Andre’s presence makes it even better this year. And he is quite a nice fellow as well."

Areas of the shopping centre were cornered off during Peter’s performance and some shoppers complained they could not get to the toilets, pick up prescriptions form pharmacies or attend optician’s appointments.

Centre manager Andrew Lowrey said: "This is the busiest day that the shopping centre has ever seen.

"People arrived from 8am and they were very patient waiting to see Peter Andre. He went down a storm with shoppers and overall we are very pleased with the success of the event and our staff on site did a great job making sure our customers were safe.

"We wanted to do something special this year to give something back to the people of Yate."

The annual parade included children’s TV character Fifi and Bob the Builder and Father Christmas. Real reindeer made their way through the shopping centre and Heart FM presenters Bush, Troy and Paulina compered the evening’s entertainment on a makeshift stage in Four Season’s Square.