John Lewis drops biggest hint yet over Christmas advert as thousands spot major change to flagship store's sign

John Lewis has dropped the ‘Lewis’ from its flagship Oxford Street branch as speculation continues to mount about its highly anticipated Christmas advert.

The outside of the shop now simply reads ‘John’ in a possible hint about the contents of this year’s festive offering.

A spokesman for John Lewis said it would not be commenting on the name change, which is understood to have affected a number of stores.

"We never comment on speculation as we don’t want to ruin the surprise," he said.

One person wrote online: "John Lewis changes Oxford Street storefront sign to 'John'. Is this a clue to its much-anticipated Christmas ad?"

Reports emerged earlier this month that Sir Elton John has been paid £5million to appear in this year’s advert, making up half of the advert’s £10million budget.