LOCAL Penn butcher Joe Gleeson has said he has never experienced a Christmas in 35 years like the most recent one.

People queued for two hours to pick up their turkeys in the lead up to Christmas with the shop remaining open past closing time until everyone received their order.

READ MORE: Cutsomers praise Penn Butcher after two hour Christmas queues

The small butchers attached to the front of Mr Gleeson’s house is a community favourite in Penn and Tyler’s Green with many local customers.

Mr Gleeson admitted how important it is to support local business but does believe that the public have responded to the pandemic in favour of local companies

The butcher also revealed that during the initial lockdown he actually had an increase of customers and orders.

Speaking to the Bucks Free Press, butcher Joe Gleeson said: “It was an exceptional Christmas.

“In 35 years we have never experienced a Christmas like that.

“It had its challenges however we met those challenges.

“We’ve been trading here for 35 years and we just try and grasp what our customers want and deliver reliability of  service and product at a fair price that’s how we built our business.

“Not all our business is local some do come from further afield I have to be honest, but 95% is from walking distance.

 “It is so important.

PHOTOS: TWO HOUR queues for Butchers in Penn

 “I can only speak from myself and certainly when you look at the original lockdown there was a surge to local shops, some of that was of course due to people wanting to avoid supermarkets but also the reliability of our services.”

The butchers located on Hazlemere Road has now reopened after Christmas and now has queues of three or four people outside the door instead of down the entire street.