Santa has been left ho ho homeless after being told there is no room for his festive grotto, disappointing hundreds of children.
Santa has been meeting kids and handing out presents at the Grosvenor Centre for years, raising £100s for charities.
But this year he has found himself homeless because there are no available units.
Last week he and Mrs Claus, who also makes an appearance at the grotto, put out an appeal in the Express to find a temporary new home over the festive period. But despite generous offers from people around the town, there is nowhere suitable, and Santa and his helpers have had to cancel the grotto.
Santa said he is unhappy that he will disappoint hundreds of children.
He said: “I was looking forward to meeting the children of Macclesfield and desperately wanted to find somewhere to hold my grotto but sadly I’ve had to cancel. Thanks everyone for coming up with ideas and trying to find me a grotto but sadly I’ll have to be homeless this year.
“I hope the children of Macclesfield won’t be too disappointed. My helpers and I will be busy finding somewhere for next year so we will be back with presents to get the show back on the road.”
Sam Hatton, who used to work for the council, has organised the grotto for the last five years and this year teamed up with Jayne Lewis, fundraising chairman at the Rotary Club of Macclesfield Castle, and other club members to organise the grotto.
Cancelling the grotto means that the East Cheshire Hospice and Park Lane School, as well as other charities supported by The Rotary Club of Macclesfield Castle, will no longer benefit from the money raised.
Around 1,500 children visited the grotto last year and £800 was raised for East Cheshire Hospice.
Santa’s helper Jayne Lewis, from the Rotary club, said: “We received an offer from a lovely lady called Nellie for a unit on Sunderland Street but it was too out of the way to ensure we had enough visitors and we had a kind offer from Andy Brooks from MAC Activity Centre but also it was away from the centre of town.
“The owners of the old Nationwide site offered it but we didn’t have enough build time needed to ensure the grotto’s sparkle.
“We can’t explain how disappointed we feel in not achieving the grotto this year and our only consolation is that we have started to look for a place for next year.”
