Only a man can wear the red coat, white beard and black boots of Santa Claus, local councillors have decided.

The role must continue to be played by a male following a debate about whether a female could step into his boots.

For around 50 years, Santa has toured the town of Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, in a flatbed truck handing out sweets to children on Christmas Eve.

Santa in County Durham must be played by a man, local councillors have ruled (Picture: Getty)

However a great debate was sparked this year when a woman offered to play Father Christmas while her husband drove the truck.


That led to calls of political correctness and a fear of disappointed children who would expect a male voice to be ho-ho-hoing.



During a special meeting last night, Councillor Bob Fleming said there was a short period of time when children are innocent and that wonder and magic could be ruined.

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His colleague Aran Chandran said it was not an issue of equality but rather political correctness should not be allowed to ruin traditions.

He said: ‘My understanding is that Santa Claus otherwise called Father Christmas (among other names) is a male role.

‘I believe that children in particular will be expecting a male Santa, and that it may well reflect badly on the Council if we were to deliberately introduce a form of political correctness.’

Councillor Eddy Adam said while actors can successfully play different gender roles, the public view was Santa was a man.

Santa tours the streets of Newton Aycliffe every Christmas Eve handing out sweets (Picture: NNP)

‘The public have spoken,’ he said. ‘They are the voice of the community. Some 88% of viewers on Loose Woman and Facebook warriors want a male Santa.’

The issue was put to a vote at a meeting of Great Aycliffe Town Council’s Recreation Committee on Wednesday.

They rejected the recommendation from a sub-committee to allow women volunteers to be Santa.

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In a statement the council said: ‘The Recreation Committee did not agree with the recommendation and confirmed by resolution that the role of Santa Claus should continue to be a male role.’

The event, which has been staged since the 1970s, ran into a different type of trouble earlier this year.

There had been concerns the tour would have to be scrapped because there were doubts about the legality of Santa travelling on the back of a moving van.

That was until Chief Constable Mike Barton made an assurance Father Christmas would not be prosecuted as long as the vehicle was slow.