Santa was left fuming after a Scrooge traffic warden gave him a ticket for "driving his sleigh" in a pedestrian zone as he handed out Christmas presents."
Mick Worrall, 75, was wearing his red and white outfit when he parked his three-wheeler bike, which pulls the sleigh, in Worcester city centre.
He was handing out sweets and teddies to kids and collecting donations for a children’s charity when he was hit with a fixed penalty notice on Saturday (10/12).
Pictures show the warden issue Mick with a £60 fine outside the city’s Guildhall in the High Street.
Cheeky Mick, of Worcester, refused to cough up and even told the warden to "post it to the North Pole"."
Mick, who has six grandchildren and one great-granddaughter, even vowed to return to the city centre next week to continue spreading festive cheer.
He said: "I won't let the children down. I get pleasure from putting smiles on the faces of the children."
"I'm a bit disappointed - but it's not going to stop me. I've been doing it for years."
"I refused to take the ticket. I told the warden 'send it to me in the post to my address'."
"He said 'where's that?' I said 'the North Pole'."
"I will go to court dressed as Father Christmas if I have to. I'm not paying a penny in fines when I'm collecting money for charity."
Mick was issued with the ticket because he was judged to be driving in a "traffic-free" zone."
He said: "I was not driving the decorated trike around the streets."
"I merely crawled along at under 2mph to my parking spot before handing out festive gifts."
"I've done it every year and never had any problems. Last year a policeman even posed with me for pictures."
"Maybe the traffic warden was having a bad day or just being Scrooge but it was petty to say the least."
His friend, Stuart Hackett, who was dressed as a Christmas tree added: "There's got to be rules - but it's Christmas time."
"They have got to expect someone to come along as Father Christmas to get people into the festive spirit. I would like them to scrap the ticket."
The bizarre scenes were captured on camera by schoolboy Jake Fox, 12, from Ombersley, Worcester.
He said: "I told the traffic warden ‘You can’t do that! Santa is doing a good thing."
Jake’s uncle Mike Fellows had taken his nephew to meet Santa when the warden took exception to Santa’s transport.
He said: "There were lots of people gathered around and Santa was shouting at the traffic warden."
"To begin with, I thought it was a set-up but the traffic warden went around the rear of the vehicle to take pictures of the number plates."
"Santa shouted, ‘You’re going on the naughty list!’ Lots of people were saying, ‘You can’t do that to Santa!’ He was angry."
Stunned onlookers organised a quick whip round for Santa to cover his fine.
A Worcester City Council spokesperson said they could not comment on individual cases but confirmed the fine was issued for "driving in a pedestrian zone"."
Mick has raised thousands of pounds for charity dressing up as Santa and this year was collecting for New Hope Worcester Children’s Charity.
The organisation works with families who have children with disabilities and complex health care needs.