December 25 was a bit of a wash out and it was a rough finish to a rough year – so instead families had decided to jingle all the way for Junemas.

With pubs and restaurants closed and gatherings limited to just three households at Christmas, celebrations were muted.

But for those who felt like they missed out help was at hand.

At the weekend The Grey Goat Inn, in Baggrow, dropped the price of its drinks and gave Santa a call – and as if by magic he just happened to be free for the day.

Flying in on Saturday to surprise the children, Santa helped spread a little late Christmas cheer.

Landlady Ainsley Wood was thrilled to be able to host Santa, adding: “It’s been absolutely amazing, we have been so busy.

“On Friday we celebrated New Year and had Christmas for the adults but Saturday was all about the children.

“One little one was so excited when she saw Santa she jumped out of her mum's arms and ran to him.”

At Christmas children were unable to have the usual contact with Santa and didn’t get to do all the usual things they would, so having this day gave them a special chance to catch up with the big man.

Landlord Charles said: “We reduced the prices of all our drinks as we didn’t want people thinking we were doing it to make money. We wanted people to come and enjoy the weekend and catch up on what they missed at Christmas.”

Complete with Christmas jumpers and decorations, the festive pub was a hit with visitors and they had an extremely busy weekend.

Ainsley said: “ It has been great. Everyone was wearing their Christmas jumpers and we had all or decorations up. It has been that good we’re now thinking about doing it every year.”

Since being first dreamt up by Aldi’s marketing department – the supermarket began selling mince pics last month – Junemas has taken off and pubs and restaurants have jumped on board with gusto-ho-ho!