EIGHTY children from South Wye were thrilled by their pre-Christmas meeting with Santa at the Kindle Centre's festive party.

"There was face-painting, games and lots of food," said Councillor Chris Chappell, who was behind Santa's familiar white beard. "And all of the children get a present.

"We had 80 children there with their mums and dads.

"This is something which happens every year at the Kindle Centre. Mandy Evans from the centre gets us all organised and her staff put up Santa's Grotto.

"Lots of the credit goes to Asda - they provide much of the food and fund the event to a great extent."

It's a special highlight for some of the refugee families who live in that area of the city.

"We have quite a few refugees in South Wye and it's quite something to see the look on their faces when they are see Santa for the first time," said Cllr Chapell.

"They like to take photos to send to their families back in their home lands.

"One of the families there on Saturday, Esam Alhijazi and his children Ghana and Basma, are from Syria and they have been coming along for a couple of years."

Cllr Chappell will be donning the red Santa robe again on Wednesday for a rather different audience.

"We have some of our elderly residents coming along for their Christmas party," he said.

"The oldest is over 100 and the youngest is 70 plus.

"The High Sherriff and his wife will be coming along to help us serve the food."