Father Christmas has been given a hipster makeover - and it's out with the red cape and in with a sharp three-piece suit and rippling abs.

Fifty-eight-year-old Liverpudlian Paul Orchard has been chosen to star as Santa Claus in a new Christmas ad campaign - but with his trendy beard, he's barely recognisable as Old Saint Nick.

The model and actor has been announced this week as the face of dating app Lumen, which is designed for the over-50s.

In one campaign shot, Orchard flexes his tattooed biceps, dressed in nothing more than a pair of red trousers and braces.

Lumen's new Christmas ads show Paul as Father Christmas in a festive setting, and will feature on billboards, in stations and on Facebook nationwide.

Is that you, Santa Claus? Paul Orchard, pictured, has been chosen to star as Santa Claus in a new campaign - but with his trendy beard, he's barely recognisable as Old Saint Nick

The ad campaign is in response to a study by Lumen which found that a fifth of UK women (19 per cent) say they find Santa attractive - and 60 per cent saying that they feel advertising 'gets them wrong'.

When women were asked why they find Santa attractive, his friendly appearance (71 per cent) was found to be his most appealing quality, followed by his smile (63 per cent) and his good nature (60 per cent).

In terms physical attraction, a fifth of women find his beard a turn-on (20 per cent), a similar number like his silver hair (17 per cent), while one in 10 are attracted to his larger build (9 per cent).

In terms of what else makes Santa so alluring, a third of women (34 per cent) said it was getting older themselves that changed how they looked at him, while others put it down to his mysteriousness (21 per cent), or simply because of an attractive Santa they once saw (11 per cent).

Popular culture plays a role too, with a quarter (23 per cent) saying their attraction came from a movie or TV show.

Paul Orchard in a sharp red suit. The ad campaign is in response to a study by Lumen which found that a fifth of UK women (19 per cent) say they find Santa attractive

Paul Orchard pulls a cracker in the new ad campaign for Lumen. The model and actor has been picked as the face of the dating app, which is designed for the over-50s

Model shot: Lumen's new Christmas ads show Paul as Father Christmas in a festive setting, and will feature on billboards, in stations and on Facebook nationwide

Even the song 'Santa Baby', sung originally by Eartha Kitt and more recently Kylie Minogue, played a role for some (8 per cent).

Paul Orchard, said: 'Being Santa has to be one of the most fun parts of my job, and I'm chuffed at how the photographs have turned out. It shows that getting older doesn't mean you can't still have fun.'

Charly Lester, dating expert and co-founder of Lumen, said: 'It's clear that many people aged 50 or older feel that advertising gets them wrong.

'We wanted to address this with our own fun, sexy and cheeky Christmas ad featuring a very handsome Father Christmas. After all, who says Santa can't be a sex symbol?'

'Being older doesn't make you any less attractive, and we were keen to uncover how many women find Santa's silver hair, thick beard, and larger build a turn on – and at fifth of women, its more than most might think.'