Organisers defend winter wonderland event

Yesterday, visitors blasted organisers on social media saying they had been forced to walk through muddy fields only to find there was no Santa.

However, event organisers have now come out fighting saying the majority of the feedback they have received has been positive.

A spokesperson said: “The event had some initial setbacks on the Friday due to a bad storm in the early hours of the morning.

“Unfortunately this delayed the arrival of some traders and resulted in damage to the grotto, which the event organiser rectified within two hours of opening - this is the only time Santa and his reindeer were unavailable.

“Visitors requesting a refund during this period were given one.

The spokesperson said visitors were ‘pre-warned’ to bring suitable footwear and that measures were put in place to combat the mud, including removing surface water overnight and laying straw.

They added that any badly affected areas of ground were either fenced off or not used as part of the event space.

“Organisers are sorry to hear that some people have not enjoyed the event but the majority of feedback has been positive,” said the spokesperson.

“There were almost 100 traders in place throughout the weekend, both outside and in the large craft marquee. Over 2,000 gifts were given to children visiting Santa in his grotto.”

Yesterday, disgruntled customers took to the Derbyshire Times Facebook page in their droves to give their views of the event.

Ali Bow wrote: “I went on Friday - no Santa, no grotto, no snow globe, no ice rink, no reindeer. Feel totally ripped off.”

And Laura Nicholson said; “Absolutely disgusting - paid for Santa and never got to see him. Gulliver’s Kingdom mouse was there trying his best to make light of a bad situation. Very unsafe and disorganised.”