SANTA swapped his sleigh for a fire engine when he made his grand entrance to a Shinfield garden centre on Sunday.
The jolly red fellow has taken up residence in a magical North Pole themed grotto, complete with festive tableaux right up until Christmas Eve.
To make his arrival extra special, Dobbies Garden Centre in Hyde End Lane ensured a memorable morning.
Characters from Frozen, Fireman Sam and Bigfoot the Clown entertained shoppers while festive fancy dress costumes were worn by members of the Shinfield Players as they promoted their pantomime Mother Goose.
A face painter also helped decorate children and samples of festive treats were handed out.
Father Christmas was accompanied by his wife, Mrs Claus, and two members of Dobbies Little Seedlings club, twins Oscar and Hugo May. The four-year-olds joined in the fire engine’s ride through Shinfield before helping cut the ribbon to open his grotto.
The attraction, which is open until Christmas Eve, includes a range of seasonal scenes featuring penguins, polar bears and Christmas decorations.
It has been created by Dobbies customer assistant Colin Townhill. Speaking to The Wokingham Paper he said: “It’s my intrepretation of a story sent over by head office. You can watch a story on a TV and then walk through the tableau.
“A lot of planning went into it. You want the children to go WOW! and the adults to say, ‘It’s like how it [a grotto] was when I was young’.”
The grotto also includes a hamper worth £68 which will be raffled on Christmas Eve and children who pay to receive a present will receive Lego toys.
For twins Oscar and Hugo, being able to join Santa on a fire engine was a dream come true.
Parents Stuart and Lucy May said the boys, who attend the Coombes CE School, were overjoyed.
“They got selected from the Little Seedlings Club run by the garden centre,” they said. They are big fans of Fireman Sam and were leaping with joy when they heard the news. They were very excited and were wearing their own fireman helmets and jackets.”
