A father is angry his children's Christmas has been ruined by a charity Santa stripping off his costume in front of them.

Gavin Harsham, of Lancut Road, is fuming that his son Kayne, four, and daughter Kahrina, two, had their dreams shattered when they saw Father Christmas removing his beard and coat on Tuesday night.

Mr Harsham said: "I heard the Santa sleigh was driving around so I went out in the car looking for it. Then I got the kids out of the house and up to where they were doing the collection.

"They had waited about an hour and were so excited. I paid money for the collection and the kids, about 10 of them, went around the corner to see Santa.

"They saw Santa right in front of them pull off his beard and take off his costume. They were crying their eyes out.

"He could have waited just a few more minutes. It's ruined my children's Christmas. They were just starting to understand what it was all about and really wanted to meet Santa. The whole thing has made me really angry."

Tony Brown, chairman of Witney Round Table, was driving the sleigh around Smiths estate to raise funds for local charities.

He said: "I'm surprised this happened. When we parked up, the person dressed as Santa took off his jacket and put it in the back of the car because we'd finished. If the children saw and were upset then we will look into it and make sure it never happens again.

"We don't go out of the way to upset children, quite the contrary, it's a service for kids to enjoy. Santa is a cub leader and he would have been very sympathetic.

"It's very unfortunate, we try very hard and we are very conscious of our image."