FOR the last two years he's brought a smile to the faces of countless children and raised hundreds of pounds for local charities.

But this year will be a blue Christmas for Santa Claus after he was told there was no room for his regular spot at the Marlands Shopping Centre in Southampton.

Richard McQuillan, a close friend of the jolly character, said he could not believe it when centre bosses told him they could not fit him in.

Centre managers said they simply did not have an empty unit where they could fit the grotto in safely.

Mr McQuillan, pictured above, said: "We've been working there for the last two years, but this year they said they don't need us because they haven't got the room.

"But it's for the children and I think it's very unusual, especially in this day and age.

"We try and put on a show instead of being in a grotto and last year people were queuing up to see it."

The 42-year-old father-of-one, from Aldermoor Avenue, Aldermoor, has been working as an ice-cream seller during the summer months and is used to working with children as an entertainer.

He added: "I can't understand it. They've had clowns there and bands and they've got the AA man and things and they said that's why they've got no more room.

"But I would have thought they would have made room for it. We usually raise money for different local charities, like The Rose Road Association. We raised a few hundred pounds last year and it seems a shame that they're going to lose out this year."

Promotions and marketing manager for The Marlands, Jackie Beazley said it was a health and safety issue.

She added: "Last year we weren't going to have one, but we had an empty unit available, so we moved the hoarding back and put in a grotto.

"The malls are not particularly wide so we can only use an area that becomes available. This year, that space has been let so at this point in time we just haven't got the space to put something in that's going to be suitable and safe.

"It's a health and safety regulation issue. Obviously it's a shame that we can't have something, but we are thinking about having a roving Santa, which we would go through an agency for."