With reindeer, turkeys and its own wrapping paper, Leicestershire is rapidly transforming into a Christmas wonderland.

Geese have been fattened, wine has been mulled and tonnes of stilton have been produced across the county in the run up to the festive period.

And now Leicestershire has its very own reindeer.

East Carlton, near Market Harborough, is home to a herd of 10 reindeer who have been travelling with Santa to turn on Christmas lights across the county.

Owner Angela Flint moved the herd up from Oxfordshire earlier this year.

She said: "They have been all over the place with Santa – Earl Shilton, Barwell, St Martin's Square. Everywhere we've been we've been told they haven't had reindeer before.

"They get to relax and put their hooves up for most of the year but Christmas is very busy."

People across the county will also be waking up to presents wrapped in special Leicester paper on Christmas morning, thanks to Rutland freelance artist Sally Renner.

Sally has been working with the city centre's Bulb Studios to produce the I Love Leicester paper, which went on sale this week.

She said: "They had an idea about creating an image for the entrance to their office and asked if I would be interested.

"Then they thought about making paper.

"The idea was to make products to promote the city in a positive way. It's got the fox, which is a symbol people associate with Leicester and it's really about celebrating Leicester. It's my first product so it's quite exciting.

"It's a nice thought, that people will be seeing my product on Christmas Day."

Over in Billesdon, Claire and Robert Symington, of Seldom Seen Farm, are on schedule to sell almost 4,000 geese and 700 turkeys.

For the first time, they have signed up to supply Marks & Spencer with 500 geese .

Claire said: "It's quite stressful, a lot of work. We're serving M&S this year so we're very busy, but it is fun.

"We're nearly sold out but there are a few geese left if people want to get in touch."

Staff at Tuxford and Tebbutt, in Melton, have been working for three months to prepare 850 tonnes of Stilton for the festive period.

Mark Frankcom, the company's speciality cheese director, said: "People call it the king of cheeses and it's easy to see why.

"It has become increasingly popular around the world and we export in the region of 25,000 cheeses each Christmas."