Winchester Great Hall’s Santa replacement causes upset

The cultural trust runs several museums and galleries across Hampshire.

“We’re a local, not-for-profit arts and museums charity so profiteering at this time of year is really not what we’re about,” Mr Sapwell said.

“We’re absolutely devastated that some people haven’t had a good experience at the grotto at the Great Hall.”

Mr Sapwell said it recognised that some parents booked expecting previous years’ Santa to be there and that its event experienced early “teething problems”.

“We don’t want anyone to go away disappointed, which is why we’re offering refunds for people who haven’t visited who thought they were visiting the previous years’ experience,” he added.

“We’ve worked positively with Santa and his elf office in Lapland for many years in our other museums and galleries. Santa always takes feedback onboard, which is quite surprising for someone who’s so busy this time of year, and so do we.

“So we’re working really closely with him to continually improve the experience that we are offering here for the rest of the season.”