A publicity stunt delivering free mince pies to people’s homes in the run-up to Christmas has been launched by Tesco.

The supermarket giant has dispatched a Mince Pie Van to towns and cities including Aylesbury, London, Newmarket, Nottingham and Portsmouth.

The van’s crew, Mince Pie Man and Mince Pie Woman, will be knocking at people’s doors and dropping off 1,000 packs of mince pies ranging from Tesco Finest to Free From, and wishing them a Merry Christmas.

If no one is at home when they call, they will post cards through their letterboxes saying “sorry we missed you”, along with a voucher to be redeemed in store.

Other people can take part if they see the van by taking a picture of it and tweeting #HappieChristmas to @tescomedia.

As he set out on his Mince Pie Drop, the Mince Pie Man, Paul Harrison, said: “I’m really excited about the Mince Pie Run. It’s definitely a good way to get people in the festive mood.

“I’ll be gently knocking on people’s doors and handing out free packs of Tesco Mince Pies and saying hello.”