Santa has set off to visit children in Calne thanks to the kindness of a company that helped to fit two new tyres on his sleigh for free.

The Calne Lions received about 20 calls after an appeal in the Gazette for help to replace the sleigh’s ageing tyres, with Mike Woods Tyres making the first offer.

Last week mechanics from the garage, on Nursteed Road, Devizes, fitted the tyres and on Monday Santa set off on his annual tour of the town.

He also made his first appearance of the year at the town’s Winter Festival by taking part in the parade and meeting children at the grotto in Beach Terrace.

Club president Amanda Venton said: “Mike Woods Tyres has helped us in the past, it was very kind in sponsoring us for a couple of years in the duck race.

“If anything gets you in the Christmas spirit it’s the Santa sleigh. When I first moved to Calne my daughter was three. I used to wrap her in a big blanket and rush outside. That was my first experience of the Santa sleigh.”

The sleigh has toured the streets of Calne in December with Santa at the reins for more than 20 years to collect money from generous residents.

It will be out every night until Christmas Eve, although this will depend on the weather and the number of volunteers available.

Mrs Venton said: “It’s lovely and it can be quite emotional actually, because sometimes we knock at people’s doors who we have helped in the past.

“At the Winter Festival we were introduced to a little boy we helped. A mum came up to us and said ‘you helped my little one’, we paid for some special preschool activities.”

The sleigh will also be outside Sainsbury’s every Friday and Saturday lunchtime. To get in touch, visit www.calnelions.org