[kellyhound]

Children at a shopping centre in Reading saw Santa Claus make an unusual entrance after his beard got stuck in the rope he was abseiling down.

Steve Chessell - from 11th Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers - spent 40 minutes suspended 15ft in the air before being rescued by his colleague Marc Hilton, as hundreds at Broad Street Mall looked on.

The 32-year-old arrived to cheers but laughter broke out when it emerged he had become stuck.

'Say "hello Santa!". Ho, ho, ho hello Santa,' the shopping centre's announcer had said. 'He always likes to make an entrance. He's used to coming down chimneys, but we've never seen this before.'

The announcer continued: 'Oh no he hasn't got the rope stuck in his beard? Father Christmas are you going to stay up there? That's the best view of the lights.

'I think Santa wants to stay up there where he can see everybody, who's been a good boy or a good girl… So Father Christmas won't be helping us switch on the lights.'

[TwistedPrincess]

the guy playing santa probably could do what the other guy did but tried to keep the beard to preserve the image. i would think that the beard could have been freed without totally removing it. no?

[Faline]

Happens often, recalled a video before, possibly last year.

[Darkest Angel]

Poor Santa. Glad it wasn't his real beard!

[DiamondSmiles]

My father used to dress up as Santa and go to a few houses upon request.

One kid told him he had the same shoes as my dad

You can only fool them for so long! Some of the cheaper suits have black pieces of vinyl that go over your shoes to make them look like fake boots.

[DiamondSmiles]

Originally Posted by TwistedPrincess ↗

the guy playing santa probably could do what the other guy did but tried to keep the beard to preserve the image. i would think that the beard could have been freed without totally removing it. no?

He probably had kids and didn't want to traumatize any of the others.

A true professional!

[Pac Man]

That was kinda funny

[zackf]

they should have sent an elf.