All I want for Christmas is a chimney big enough for Santa! Boy, 6, sees his festive dreams come true as parents have new house built

When six-year-old Leo Park’s mother told him she was buying a brand-new house, his excitement quickly turned to anxiety.



Not only might Santa not know the address, but what if the chimney wasn’t big enough to accommodate his ample frame and bulging sack of toys?



Leo wrote a letter to builder Jeremy Paxton which said: ‘I am worried that my mummy’s house doesn’t have a big enough chimney. I think Santa will get stuck. Please can you help?’



'Tis the season to be jolly: Leo Park, six, shows his appreciation as Father Christmas is lowered into the extra-large chimney his parents had built at their home in Somerford Keynes, Gloucestershire Write caption here Yesterday all his fears were allayed as Mr Paxton, who commissioned an architect and a mathematician to design the perfect Santa-friendly chimney, showed off the results at the Lower Mill Estate near Cirencester, Gloucestershire.

Leo and his mother Jade were guests of honour as a crane lifted a suitably plump Father Christmas up to the roof of the £750,000 four-storey property and lowered him into the Cotswold stone chimney, which goes all the way down to the sitting room. RELATED ARTICLES Previous

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Next Breeze from tropics takes the chill off Christmas to double... 'My last Christmas was in 1994!' Father-of-two has 17 years... Share this article Share ‘A perfect fit,’ announced Santa. ‘I wish they were all like this.’ Leo said: ‘That’s the best thing ever. He didn’t get stuck. He went right down. It was fantastic.

‘When I go back to school I shall be able to tell my friends, “Guess what? I saw Santa Claus going down my chimney”.’ Engineering: The chimney, circled, was built with the help of an architect and a mathematician Architects drew up plans to ensure the chimney was wide enough for Santa Leo’s mother said the plan evolved after she met Mr Paxton at a party and expressed interest in buying a home on the 550-acre estate. ‘It was when I started discussing it with Leo that he started going on about the chimney and Father Christmas,’ she said. ‘I said, “Why don’t you write a letter to Jeremy about it?” and so he did. But we never expected anything like this to happen.’

Mr Paxton said: ‘When I got Leo’s letter I was just going to write back to him at first, but then I got to thinking there was more to it. I contacted one of the Lower Mill architects, Andy Ramus, who has recently become a dad himself and he was really taken with the idea.

‘He talked to a mathematician who came up with a formula and produced 3D computer images and working drawings for the perfect Santa chimney.

‘It’s probably cost me £20,000 extra to build it, but we pride ourselves on being able to do what the customer wants.

‘Leo gave me a big hug and told me it was the best day of his life. To see his face light up made everything worthwhile.’