Secret Santa faces littering charges

A Secret Santa could face litter charges after leaving Christmas gifts for children in a park. The mystery man – who signs himself The Woodland Santa – creeps into a country park at night to hang gift-wrapped books and toys from trees. But Scrooge-like council officials have warned the real-life Father Christmas that he could land in court for fly-tipping. It is the second year running the phantom Santa has left festive offerings on fir trees in Pembrey country park, near Llanelli, South Wales.

Last year more than 600 toys and gifts were found hanging in bags in the run-up to Christmas. And the kind-hearted Santa has returned with more surprises for young visitors to the park this year. Park rangers have collected gifts including a Teletubbies annual, cuddly Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh puppet, which have all been passed on to local charity shops. Park manager Rory Dickinson said: “’Tis the season to be jolly and giving – but this does cause us a few problems. We cannot leave the presents out because of littering issues.”



Carmarthenshire council officials said some of the presents were ruined by the weather and had to be thrown away as litter. Councillor Clive Scourfield said: “It’s an unusual problem for us. We certainly don’t want to be the first authority to be labelled Scrooges for citing Santa for fly-tipping. We would like to come to some kind of arrangement with him to better distribute his generosity – even if it is anonymously.”

One theory is that the Secret Santa is a migrant worker from Poland where it is a tradition to hang presents on forestry trees. Park ranger Andrew Jenkins said: “This time he is leaving us notes attached to the bags. One said in neat handwriting, ‘a gift mixed’ and ‘a baby gift’. Each one is signed ‘The Woodland Santa’ with a final line reading ‘Goodwill and good spirit’. He kept us busy up to Christmas Eve last year - and there was only one sighting of him running away across the golf course.”