After perhaps opening their stockings and tucking into turkey, 13 people filed for divorce in Britain on Christmas Day.

According to official figures, a total of 455 people used the festive period from Christmas Eve to New Year's Day to file online divorce applications.

Around 3% of those came on December 25th.

Spouses looking to end their marriage have been able to complete the whole divorce process online since last year.

Applications can be filled in, documents uploaded and fees paid on the internet without the need to send off any paperwork.

More than 23,000 divorce applications have now been made online since the process was launched in England and Wales in April 2018, according to statistics released by the UK Ministry of Justice.

The time taken to complete a divorce application has also reduced by more than half an hour on average.

In the past 12 months, more than 150,000 people used online justice services.

his takes the total number to more than 300,000 in the past four years.

It follows the start of a UK government investment to modernise the justice system.

Britain's Justice Minister Lucy Frazer said: "These online services are already making a difference to people who use the justice system.

"As we reach this milestone it's encouraging to see people are reporting these services work well for them and are a better-fit around their busy lives."