“THIS is brilliant, John Lewis has competition for the best Christmas advert!”

That was one of the reactions to an ad created to promote Wimborne this Christmas.

The film, which runs to around a minute and 23 seconds, tells the story of an eight-year old boy who asks his parents to buy specific presents for Christmas, providing them with a hand-drawn map of Wimborne.

The parents dutifully purchase the gifts, even though some of them seem a little incongruous with the sort of thing their son normally likes – which all becomes clear at the end…

And the ad, aimed at promoting shopping in Wimborne during the festive season, has proved a hit online, being watched more than 22,000 times.

BID chair, Fiona Harwood, said: “The annual Christmas advert that the BID funds has become a bit of a tradition now.

“Christmas is such an important time for businesses and the advert is a great way to showcase what the town has to offer. This one really seems to have captured people’s hearts.”

The film was made by Gray Creative Agency, who have been working with Wimborne BID on each of the six Christmas adverts.

Justin Gray said: “We love working in Wimborne and the BID are just great at letting us play with creative ideas.”

The advert was truly a local project – the inside of the family home was filmed at Living Interiors in the High Street, while most of the cast were Wimborne residents.

The star of the show was eight-year-old Hugo whose parents, Wes and Alessandra, run Piccolo Mondo Pizzeria.

Hugo said he “wouldn’t do it every day as it was very tiring, but if you wanted me to again, I would do it”.

Comments reacting to the film online included: “This is brilliant, John Lewis has competition for the best Christmas advert.”

And: “Great job Wimborne Minster BID.”