A ‘DISHEVELLED’ Santa moaned “How many more kids do I need to see before my break?” as parents queued up for an hour to see him.
Families were left fuming after booking slots weeks in advance to see Father Christmas at Metrocentre in Newcastle.
Parents with bookings still reportedly had to wait an hour before their child could meet Santa.
When it was finally their turn, they were shocked to find a shoeless Santa with a matted beard and no hat.
Elves then allegedly told them that no professional photos would be taken because the camera was broken.
Mum Laura Johnson, 38, took her four-year-old sonBobby to the “Winter Wonderscape” on Sunday after paying £27.85 for tickets.
She told ChronicleLive: “We arrived on time but were told there could be over an hour wait – despite having pre-booked this back in November.
“Santa was wearing socks and moaning out loud asking, ‘How many more children do I need to see before my break?’
“We were also told the camera was broken the previous day so there would be no professional photos.
“I think I’m lucky my son is still pretty young so just goes with the flow but we were very disappointed.”
Metrocentre apologised to families visiting on Sunday – and said the scruffy Santa was a stand-in drafted in after the shopping centre’s original Father Christmas called in sick.
Both of the Santas were stand-ins for the original one, who is reportedly busy at his base in Lapland.
A spokeswoman said: “We had an isolated issue on Sunday morning when Santa was ill and therefore had to make alternative arrangements.
“This particular Santa only worked one shift and is no longer contracted by the events company.
“Our Santa team has had a lot of positive feedback from other visitors so we are sorry it has not been to our normal high standards.
“As the grotto had a huge response for tickets, the event company added in additional slots.
“It notified anyone who pre-booked that there would be a wait unless they wanted to rebook for a quieter time.
“Anyone who didn’t want to wait was given a refund.”
Fans are moaning that they’d “rather have a night in” after twigging that beer and snacks at Christmas markets cost more than a flight to Frankfurt.
