TWO huge chains have already started getting into the festive spirit.

Christmas favourites will be returning to menus at Costa Coffee and Greggs.

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The coffee chain will be serving up their much-loved Terry’s Chocolate Orange Muffin, while Greggs will be dishing out the Sweet Mince pies.

They are following in the footsteps of supermarkets which have already started stocking shelves with festive food.

The wider Christmas menus will be rolled out later in the year.

Costa Coffee

The coffee shop is bringing back it’s own spin on the humble, yet mouthwatering, mince pie.

The Mince Tart is gluten-free and suitable for vegans and looks almost too good to eat.

Adorned with a pastry star and a sprinkle of icing sugar, the slice is the perfect treat to accompany a frothy coffee.

For those who love a classic, the traditional All Butter Mince Pie has also returned to Costa.

The beloved Terry’s Chocolate Orange Muffin is perfect for chocolate lovers, featuring a rich chocolate and orange muffin filled with sauce in the same flavour.

The sweet treat is topped with a Terry’s segment.

Greggs

The best way to kick off the start of the festive season is undoubtedly with a Greggs Sweet Mince Pie, which fans can indulge in from just 65p per pie.

For those looking to spread the festive cheer with their friends and family, a pack of six Sweet Mince Pies is available from only £2.25.

Vegan lovers of Greggs can also savour the festive favourite, as the vegan-friendly recipe consists of a crumbly shortcrust pastry, filled with a sweet mincemeat made from vine fruits, Bramley apple, candied orange and lemon peel.

For those of you who aren’t quite ready for Christmas just yet, Greggs has launched its Halloween range.

Fans can enjoy the festive and Halloween feels with a Sweet and Hot Drink Deal, pairing one of the new sweet menu items with a hot drink from just £2.85.

The new Pumpkin biscuit, a ginger biscuit coated in Fairtrade milk chocolate, is available from just £1.25.

The Spooky Bun, a vanilla flavour fairy bun dipped in fondant icing and topped with spine-chilling sugar decorations is also available from only £1.00.

For Greggs fans organising feasts for friends and family this Halloween, the Spooky Bun is also available as a pack of four from £3.15.

This comes after Sainsbury’s shoppers were shocked to find mince pies on sale in early September.

The gobsmacked customer wrote in the caption: “Stock up on your mince pies (take in Sainsbury’s a few days ago, so it was actually August!!!!).”

Another shopper who stumbled upon the Christmas treats in the major supermarket also took to X, and wrote: “On Sept 1 I walked into my local Sainsbury and what did I see on the shelves?

Tesco’s Christmas range has been slowly making its way into supermarkets and, with the festive season now on the horizon with under 100 days to go, the goods will soon be available at all of its 4,000 branches.

ASDA also unveiled its Christmas menu and customers can snap up spiced rum mince pies and parmesan and truffle pigs in blankets.

For the first time ever, Asda has launched its first signature flavour – brown butter and spiced dark rum.

The flavour runs through a number of the festive food items ,including brown butter and spice dark rum mince pies and a slow cooked turkey with dark rum and brown butter stuffing.

There’s something for all palates and preferences too, with 57 new vegan and 35 new free from products included in the range.

Customers will be able to pick up no-meat turkeys, mushroom pigs in blankets and smoky aubergine bacon.

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A TOP chef who worked in Michelin star kitchens and cooked for the US president has seen the doors of his popular restaurant chained shut.

Tarek Thoma owns a string of successful restaurants in Middlesbrough, but his venue, Oven, is set to be ripped away.

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Chains were spotted wrapped around the doors while eviction notices have been slapped on windows.

It is understood landlords took possession of the £500,000 eatery.

Devastated fans shared their fury on social media, one wrote: “After booking a table at the Oven Restaurant Middlesbrough on Monday for tonight for 14 people for a special occasion we turned up to find the establishment chained up and a possession order stuck to the door.”

Another added: ” “Feel sorry for the staff and owner. Always always nice food and service, one of the better restaurants in Middlesbrough.”

Meanwhile an eviction notice taped to the windows read: “To all and any others this may concern. Take notice that the landlord has this day 2 October, 2024, exercised their right to peaceably re-enter and take possession of this premises known as ground floor, 202-204 Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough, TS1 3QW.

“Any lease or license is hereby determined. This property is now legally occupied by the landlords.

“Any attempt to break into this property will be classed as an attempt to break into this property will be classed as a criminal offence and will be reported to the police.”

Taerek also runs the popular Bazaar, in Captain Cook Square, from which an employee confirmed the downfall of Oven.

A spokesperson for the landlords, Pneuma Group, claimed there had been problems with the tenancy which resulted in the “difficult decision to re-enter our premises”.

Oven was created nearly 10 years ago after opening its doors to hungry customers, and 45 employees, in 2015.

Mr Thoma poured £500,000 into the business, and vowed to provide a Michelin experience for affordable prices.

Outside there is a generous, and stylish seating area, while inside holds enough space for up to 160 people.

The menu offered British, French, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine, meaning there was something for everyone.

Dishes were prepared by chefs who learnt from professionals with Michelin star training.

Tarek himself previously cooked for President George and Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Tarek, who has also worked at Michelin-starred restaurants including the L’Escargot in London and Chapter One in Kent, previously said: “My staff and I are looking forward to welcoming guests to Oven and serving them with Michelin star-style food at very affordable prices.

“This area of Middlesbrough is becoming a hive of culinary activity and Oven will bring something different to this growing gastronomic scene.”

The Sun contacted Tarek Thoma for comment.

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ARRIVING at the London Dungeon, I had a pretty good idea of the frights that lay in store.

Or so I thought. Little did I realise I was going to be part of the attraction myself — by going behind the scenes for 30 minutes of make-up that turned me into the Plague Doctor.

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Nothing prepared me for the shock of seeing myself in the mirror.

With zombie-like eyes and yellow crusted boils all over my face, part of me wondered if I was patient zero for the next pandemic.

At least I looked the part for the horrors that awaited on my tour through London’s dark and depraved past.

After a terrifying drop into dimly lit, plague-infested streets, I suddenly found myself immersed in a plot to kill the King . . .  axe and all.

Things soon turned even more sour. We got caged in the torture chamber, chains and manacles clinking on the wall.

I was then strapped to a chair while the dungeon’s chief torturer brandished all sorts of mean-looking iron instruments.

This was a man who clearly loved his job.

Later, we came face to face with a doctor who seemed to prefer her patients more dead than alive.

Then there was the haunting encounter with a witch that left us a little pale.

Finally, after a chilling run-in with Jack the Ripper, I was more than ready for a drink in the tavern at the end.

But keeping the glass steady while my hands were still shaking wasn’t easy.

Richard Quincey, the attraction’s head of performance, told me: “Each year we know our guests expect more scares than before — and we really think this year we will match that expectation as we celebrate our 50th birthday.

“The team have worked incredibly hard to deliver the scariest seance show yet, and our actors are ready to bring out the most terrifying story we’ve ever told.”

The government will prioritise and increase investment in major projects at this month’s Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said.

In addition, she announced a nearly £22bn investment in two major new carbon capture schemes over 25 years.

She criticised plans she inherited from the previous government to cut investment as a share of the economy, saying she would not repeat “those mistakes”.

But the Conservatives said it was thanks to them that funding had already been announced for the carbon capture projects.

After weeks of hints about the chancellor changing her self-imposed borrowing rules to allow significantly more investment in major projects, Ms Reeves has given her strongest indication yet of a significant increase to levels of state investment.

The green schemes are two new carbon capture and storage projects on Merseyside and Teesside.

The government said they will create and support thousands of jobs, draw in private investment and help the UK meet its climate goals.

Funding of up to £21.7bn over 25 years will subsidise three projects once they start capturing carbon from hydrogen, gas, and energy from waste.

Oil and gas giants BP and Equinor will be among the firms providing private sector funding for the projects, she said, adding that other countries “would love to get this sort of investment”.

But Greenpeace UK’s policy director Doug Parr said more than £21bn “is a lot of money to spend on something that is going to extend the life of planet-heating oil and gas production”.

The chancellor said contracts such as this were never signed by the previous government because it did not prioritise capital investment – which is money spent on items such as buildings, equipment, and IT.

She directly criticised the fact that the UK’s capital budget is due to fall from 2.5% of the size of the economy to 1.6%.

However, Conservative shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho said “it’s thanks to the Conservatives that funding was already announced for these projects in the spring of 2023”.

She added that the announcement “will not make up for the mass deindustrialisation pathway that Ed Miliband’s costly net zero and energy policies are leading us to, with the devastating impact of his zealotry on jobs already seen in steel-making, refineries and in the North Sea”.

But Ms Reeves said the previous government “were cutting back on investment at exactly the time we needed to be increasing investment in our economy”.

“I’m not going to make those mistakes,” she said.

Her words are the clearest confirmation of a shift in approach to spending on major projects at the Budget and Spending Review, connected with attempts to attract significant private investment at the upcoming International Investment Summit.

That summit will be a “massive opportunity for us to show what Britain has to offer to some of the biggest investors”, she said, including private equity, venture capitalists, and sovereign wealth funds.

She also denied suggestions that the government’s budget rhetoric had spread gloom among consumers and businesses, saying there would be a “drum beat” of major investments in the coming days.