SANTA and his elf helped deliver 400 presents to children in Freshwater and Totland on Christmas Day.

His sleigh was temporarily out of order, so Freshwater Fire Brigade came to the rescue after the tradition was revived following an absence of around 20 years.

Crew manager, Kev Garrett, said: "I was involved many years ago when we used to do it regularly and it just stopped.

"Then a local resident, Roger Cameron, said he had been telling the story to his daughter Tricia and told me, so we decided to try it again.

"We distributed 400 presents to children around Freshwater and Totland which were all wrapped up by our fire fighters, wives and volunteers.

"Along the route we stopped off at The Gouldings care home, Freshwater, and Westview House, Totland Bay, to see some of their residents.

"It was unbelievably successful and we have a fantastic response on social media. It really went down well and the chances are we will revive the tradition next Christmas.

"We are grateful to the Freshwater Co-op and Isle of Wight Council who helped donate toys for the children and all the other local people who gave presents to us. We couldn't have done it without them."