We bought a last-minute Christmas lunch from a petrol station forecourt

A turkey sandwich, some strawberry jam and a microwave meal for one – sounds like Christmas to me.

This year, we wanted to answer a simple festive question: Can you buy your Christmas day lunch from a petrol station forecourt?

We wanted to see if it was possible for late arrivals to buy a last-minute lunch from one of the few shops that would be open on the big day.

I decided to stop at a Londis next to a Texaco service station with some particular items in mind for my shopping list.

To me, Christmas dinner is not just a roast dinner - there has to be some special additions that make the meal even more festive. These include:

• Turkey
• Cranberry sauce
• Stuffing
• A dessert with custard
• A Christmas cracker hat to be worn during the meal

This was my list and I somehow managed to tick off every box.

I bought a turkey sandwich to deconstruct, a frozen Bisto chicken platter for one, a jar of Hartleys strawberry jam (something of a cranberry sauce replacement) and a chocolate fudge cake with a tin of Ambrosia custard.

To top it off, a bright green microfibre cloth I thought would be ideal for my cracker hat.

When I got home, I eagerly started cooking - well, microwaving - and plating up my festive feast.

The final result looked the part…almost…maybe if you squint a little bit.

To my surprise, the frozen meal tasted pretty good considering it was cheaper than the turkey sandwich.

I think my main issue was the strawberry jam. Cranberry sauce is a lot thicker and the overall consistency didn’t really work with the gravy.

The star of the show was definitely the chocolate cake with custard – I curled up with my pudding and watched The Muppet Christmas Carol, a perfect way to finish the meal.

Overall, I’d rate the experience a 6/10. Although the food on offer started off okay, every bite did get worse and worse - but that being said, it was a Christmas dinner I will never forget.

The answer to the proposed question is yes - you can buy your Christmas lunch from a petrol station…but just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

No food went to waste in the production of this article.