SANTA has enlisted the help of an army of volunteers for his annual tour of Clitheroe and the surrounding villages.

Clitheroe Round Table has organised the tour — which has become a mainstay of the town’s Christmas calendar — for more than 30 years.

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More than £4,500 has so far been raised through bucket collections each night during this year’s tour.

The 2014 Santa tour is the biggest so far and has taken in Billington for the first time.

Barrow, Langho and Brockhall Village have also been visited by the tour, which raises money for local charities supported by the Round Table during the year.

The tour started this month and is due to finish on Sunday outside the United Reformed Church.

Charities supported by Clitheroe Round Table in the past include CLIC Sargent, Home Start Pendle & Ribble Valley, Ribble Valley Foodbank and East Lancashire Hospice.

Money has also been donated to the Neaves Fund and Macmillan Cancer Care.

Chairman Craig Nicholls, who has been a member for 13 years, said: “I remember when I was ten meeting my eventual best man when we went to see Santa on his tour.

“All of the members and the other volunteers really get a buzz out of being a part of this.

“It is the main fund-raising event that we stage on our own each year.

“Apart from this we are also involved in organising the Clitheroe community bonfire with other social groups from the town.

“We always get a great response from people in Clitheroe and the surrounding areas. We get a few grumbles that we start too early and go on to 9pm when some of the children have gone to bed — but you cannot please everyone.

“The tour has become a firm fixture of the Christmas calendar in Clitheroe and people who live here have come to expect that it will happen.

“This year we have added Billington to the locations. This is the first addition since Brockhall Village three or four years ago.

“We seem to be on track to raise about £6,000 again this year.”