Elf calls in sick with swine flu

A tearful grandmother has told how a queue of children were left devastated when Santa didn't have time to see them because his chief elf called in sick with swine flu.

Deborah Dooney, from Haydock, says at least 20 children were left heartbroken when they were turned away from a grotto after queueing patiently for more than two hours. Her nine-year-old niece, Georgia, and six-year-old granddaughter, Caitlin, both burst into tears when an elf told the waiting children that Santa had run out of time.

Great Grottos, which operates the festive attraction in the Hardshaw Centre in St Helens, has since revealed that the chief elf had phoned in at the last minute with swine flu, leaving one elf to do two jobs – on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.



Mrs Dooney, 47, said: "We started queueing for the grotto at 3pm but it wasn't until 5.25pm that we finally got to the front.

"When the elf said that only two of the remaining kids could go in and the rest would have to go home you can imagine the devastation it caused. By the time the arguing was over, Santa had gone.

"My granddaughter and niece think Santa doesn't care about them now. How can you treat kids like that? It's taken their dreams away. Surely he could have come out and spoken to the children, even if only for a couple of minutes. This has shattered their image of Christmas."