Santa and his reindeer fly into Rochdale Town Centre

Madison Hallsworth meets a reindeer

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Children in Rochdale Town Centre got the opportunity to pay Father Christmas a visit on Saturday (6 December) as he flew into town on his reindeer.

Father Christmas turned Touchstones into his grotto for the day so he could meet with children before Christmas.

Karen Heatley, from Touchstones, said: “This is the first year we have had a Santa’s Grotto and it has been really popular. We have been booked all day and have had a really good response. Hopefully it is something we can look at doing again.”

Sarah Stapleton, who took her daughter to see Father Christmas, said: "How good Santa's grotto was, he was so realistic for the kiddies and my daughter loved it. Whoever he was who played Santa deserves a well earned cheer, he did a fantastic job. We will definitely be going back next year."

As well as getting to meet with Father Christmas, children could take part in craft activities and sit down to have a story read to them by Father Christmas.

Whilst Father Christmas was in Touchstones, his reindeer were out on The Butts so children could meet them and get their photos taken with them.

Lesley Laws, who took her children to see the reindeer, said: “It’s a really good idea. We’re not actually from Rochdale but we just happened to be here today and saw the reindeer so it’s been nice.”

Joanne Devlin said: “It’s a good idea but I wish they had done the parade like they did last year. It's nice to see the reindeer but there was so much more going on with the parade.”

As well as the reindeer, Wardle Anderson Brass Band provided festive music to put everyone into the Christmas Spirit and Lightning McQueen made an appearance so children could take photos with him.