High street bakery chain Greggs hopes to encourage the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe with the release of two limited-edition festive flavoured lip balms.

Festive Pasty and Sweet Mince Pie flavoured lip balms will be available from today (19 December), with the bakery chain giving away 5,000 in nine cities across the UK ­- Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Newcastle.

The release of the Greggs lip balms follows research from a survey conducted with 2,000 adults, which found the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe has fallen out of favour in recent times.

28% of Brits said the last time they kissed someone underneath the mistletoe was at least ten years ago or more. A further 31% said they had never puckered-up under the mistletoe.

A Greggs spokesperson said they wanted to bring some fun to the last-minute festive dash. “Whether it’s a kiss under the mistletoe or a fun treat for a loved one, our festive flavoured lip balms applied generously to lips will hopefully put a lip-licking smile on anyone’s face.”