SANTA CLAUS had beer bottles and eggs thrown at him when he was touring Sherburn-in-Elmet.

The Elmet Lions Club is now considering stopping its nightly visits that bring Santa to the village, a tradition that has raised money for numerous good causes and delighted thousands of children over the past 13 years.

The fundraising group had taken its sleigh around other nearby villages with no trouble over the past couple of weeks, but three recent visits to Sherburn-in-Elmet have been marred by eggs and beer bottles being hurled at Santa Claus.

Paul Smith, a spokesman for Elmet Lions Club, said: "The trauma that must be felt by young children when they see Santa being pelted with eggs cannot be described.

"If this sort of behaviour carries on, we will have to consider dropping Sherburn-in-Elmet from our run.

"We are this year collecting for Yorkshire Air Ambulance, and so this worthy cause will also lose much-needed revenue because of mindless violence perpetrated by a few idiots who have nothing better to do than assault one of the best loved characters in the country.

"If these attacks are not curtailed, Sherburn-in-Elmet will get the Christmas it deserves."

The latest attack took place on Tuesday, when a number of collectors were forced to call the police after the sleigh was targeted.

Officers were called at around 6.30pm to a disturbance in the Beechwood Glade and Highlands area of the village after missiles were thrown by a gang of youths. When police arrived on the scene, the offenders had disappeared. The sleigh was also attacked last Thursday.

A North Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said while the force would be unable to offer an escort to the sleigh, officers would "call in on the route" to deter aggressive youths from assaulting Santa.

The spokeswoman said: "This incident was particularly malicious, targeting people going out of their way for the good of the community.

"The callous nature of this act is unacceptable at any time of the year, but goes completely against the spirit of the season and we would appeal to anyone with any information relating to the incident to phone Selby Police on 0845 6060247."