Subject: Santa faces littering rap

Council officials are threatening to prosecute a secret Santa for leaving Christmas gifts for children in a park.

The mystery man, who signs himself The Woodland Santa, creeps into Pembrey country park, near Llanelli, at night to hang gift-wrapped books and toys from trees.

But Carmarthenshire council warned the man that he could land in court for fly-tipping, reports The Mirror.

It is the second year running the phantom Santa has left his festive offerings - last year more than 600 toys and gifts were found hanging from fir trees.

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."