THEY gather on the doormat, multiply in the hall and end up taking over mantelpieces, shelves and even walls.

Then, when Christmas is over, their empty promises of "we must catch up soon" end up in the rubbish or at best the recycling bin.

So this year, why not give Christmas cards a miss?

That`s the suggestion from the Bishop of Reading, Dr Stephen Cottrell, who hates the hustle and bustle, stress and strain of Christmas.

"There must be another way of celebrating Christmas," he said.

Dr Cottrell wants those struggling to write scores of cards to stop sending them to those they don`t really like, and put their feet up and relax.

And instead of expensive presents, why not hand out a jar of homemade marmalade or pickled onions?

His advice came as the Church of England unveiled a campaign for people to cut up their credit cards this Christmas to "put the waiting back into wanting".

Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams is among leading clerics who are concerned at the commercialism and high spending that goes with Christmas.

Dr Cottrell made his plea for fewer cards as part of a festive "go slow" that would allow more time to actually relish Christmas and the season of Advent, the four weeks preceding it.

In his book, Dr Cottrell said: "It`s the first day of December, I`ve got about a hundred Christmas cards to write and several ghastly round-robin letters to read. What is this all about? There must be another way of celebrating Christmas. Prune your Christmas card list.

"Don`t write `must see you this year` on your cards unless you actually mean it.

"And if you don`t mean it, why are you sending this card at all?"

The "great orgy of present opening that greets Christmas morning", he said, was "a million miles from whatever it is that Christmas was supposed to be about".

"Give everyone the same thing," Dr Cottrell said. "Choose one book that you love and give everyone a copy."