A little boy was left devastated after Father Christmas offered him some unwanted diet advice and suggested he should ‘lay off the hamburgers’.

Anthony Mayse, 9, had gone to a Christmas-themed house in Forrest City, North Carolina to meet Santa – who was employed by the city council.

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But Santa’s advice left Mayse extremely upset, his parents said – after he had asked Santa for an iPod Touch and a drone.

‘I was crying until I went to bed that night,’ he said.

‘And when I got done, he said lay off the hamburgers and french fries, and that really just disrespected me and I felt awful.

HEARTBREAKER: Anthony says Forest City Santa made him cry when he told him to "lay off the burgers & french fries." @WLOS_13 pic.twitter.com/U5ABOf3hSj — John Le Reporter (@AbsoluteLe) December 6, 2016





‘And I went out and I started crying because I just felt so bad.’

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Mayse’s parents complained about the unwanted diet advice, and the Santa (who has not been named) has been reprimanded.

The city council said he has been allowed to keep his job.