Santas are going on health and safety courses so they don't hurt themselves balancing children on their knees.

Lessons include the correct posture to adopt in their chairs as excited youngsters queue to reel off their Christmas lists.

They are also being taught how to lift heavy presents without doing themselves an injury, reports The Sun.

Dozens of the one-day courses are being staged by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health.

A spokeswoman stressed: "Of course there's only one Santa - but hundreds of stand-ins work in stores in the run-up to Christmas."

Maybe slimming down will help with getting down all those chimneys.

The new batch of Santas had a broad appeal.

The original was here