Brazen thief RUINS CHRISTMAS after stealing 20ft inflatable Santa Claus from family

The £800 festive decoration was part of an elaborate display raising funds for the North West Air Ambulance, which had celebrated its grand switch-on event just two days earlier.

The theft has left the family, including their three young children, heartbroken - and questioning whether to continue their 11-year tradition.

Dean Thomas, 32, and his wife Rachel, also 32, have been decorating their end-terrace home for over a decade alongside their children Ella, seven, Ava, four, and Noah, two.

The family had organised one of their biggest-ever switch-on events last Friday, featuring live music from teenage band 8 Fifteen and drawing crowds until 9pm.

Dean, who works as a caretaker at AKS Lytham in Lytham St Annes, transforms his home annually to spread festive cheer and raise money for charity.

The display is a joint effort with his brother-in-law Ashley Forward, who lives opposite, and has become a beloved neighbourhood tradition.

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The theft was captured in detail on CCTV footage, showing a woman smoking a cigarette entering the property at around 11.20pm on Sunday.

The intruder initially attempted to steal smaller decorations, breaking an animatronic singing Santa and two dancing reindeer figures in the process.

After damaging the carol singers display, she turned her attention to the 20ft inflatable Santa.

The footage shows her dragging the deflated decoration from the garden towards what appeared to be a waiting car outside the property.

The theft has deeply affected seven-year-old Ella, who has been left with sleepless nights since the incident.

"She won't sleep by herself now, because she thinks the woman's going to come back and take more and burgle my house," Dean Thomas said.

The devastated father described the theft as "horrendous and disgusting", adding that his daughter broke down crying when talking about it at school.

The incident has left Dean so despondent that he plans to end the tradition. "I'm going to leave it up until Boxing Day and that's it, it won't be coming back out in the next four years," he said.

Lancashire Police confirmed it is investigating the theft, which was reported on November 18.

A police spokesman said: "A report of theft of an inflatable Santa from a garden of a house on Condor Grove, Blackpool, was made to us on November 18."

Anyone with information about the incident is urged to contact police on 101, quoting reference number 0150 of 18 November 2024.

Alternatively, witnesses can quote crime reference number 04/190839/24 when providing information about the stolen Santa.