The festive period couldn’t have got off to a more Perfect start for Ed Sheeran after the Suffolk singer claimed the 2017 Christmas number one.

The singer-songwriter said it was “an actual dream come true.”

Ed’s song, Perfect, retained its place at the top of the charts today, ending his year of dominating the charts on a festive high.

The former Thomas Mills High School pupil saw off competition from Eminem with River, on which Ed also appears, and Wham! classic Last Christmas.

He told OfficialCharts.com: “Thank you very much for making Perfect Christmas number one.

“This is an actual dream come true and I’m very proud and happy. Thank you so much and have a very merry Christmas, happy holidays and a happy new year.”

In recent weeks, the 26-year-old’s hit has been given a new lease of life as he released new versions with Beyonce and classical singer Andrea Bocelli.

According to the Official Charts Company, the song gained combined sales of 85,000 across downloads and streams in the past seven days.

The track has now also been certified double platinum by the BPI, having achieved 1.23 million combined UK sales to date.

Eminem’s River finished the week at number two, while Last Christmas is at number three following a social media campaign to get the festive classic to the top spot in honour of the late George Michael.

Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You was at number four, and Rita Ora took the number five spot with Anywhere.

A handful of festive favourites are in the top 40 in the final charts before Christmas Day, including Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? at number 12, Brenda Lee’s Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree at 14 and Shakin’ Stevens’ Merry Christmas Everyone at 15.