It was a case of heave-ho rather then ho, ho, ho last week, when retail giant Selfridges fired their resident Santa Claus – for asking visitors to sit on his knee.
Gay Andrew Mondia, 33, was sacked just three days into his jolly job, after a Muslim grandmother complained that his behaviour was unacceptable.
Mondia, whose lap landed him in trouble, told us: “I wasn’t told I couldn’t ask people to sit on my knee; I was just told to be careful with the children. They didn’t sack me until the end of the day.
“I had no idea I had done anything wrong. If it was such a serious matter why didn’t they sack me during my break?”
However, the company have defended their decision to fire the actor, referring to a specific clause in their contract.
They said it is made clear to potential Santas during their training that no-one should sit on their lap and that they mustn’t “promote or proactively seek” anyone to do so.
A spokeswoman for Selfridges added: “It’s vital that everyone bringing children to see Santa can be absolutely confident that the visit will be a happy one.
“Unfortunately, this particular Santa didn’t behave in line with his training or the standards we’ve set so we acted swiftly and asked him to leave.”
Mondia, who claims he received no warnings about his behaviour and even asked men to sit on his lap, added that his training was “really fast”. He also admitted he was surprised to be offered the role.
“I was shocked I was asked to do it,” he said. “I’m young. I’m more of an elf really.”