Santa headed to Tenby on Saturday with plenty of his little helpers on hand to start the seaside town’s Christmas festivities.

The festive switch on is one of the highlights on the seaside town’s winter calendar, and the entertainment kicked-off at 11am when Tenby Round Table hosted the famous ‘Santa Run’ with hundreds taking to the seaside streets and coastal walkways for another memorable fundraiser.

In the lead up to Santa’s arrival, a closed to traffic Tudor Square saw plenty of entertainment in the centre of town throughout the day, featuring a Christmas market, local DJ Steve Briers spinning the tunes, along with live performances, dance displays, and Christmas Carols and songs from the Salvation Army Band and Community Choir.

At 4pm, Tenby RNLI launched its all-weather lifeboat to pick up Santa from a secret location, before returning to the lifeboat station, to escort the big man (and Tenby’s Mayor Cllr Dai Morgan) into Tudor Square for the switch-on.

After the switch-on of the lights and tree, Santa headed to his grotto at St Mary’s Church House.

“Days like this don't happen for the community without the hard work of some fantastic volunteers!” said a spokesperson for Tenby Town Council, who arranged the event.

“Over 100 people gave up their free time to make the magic of Tenby’s festive lights switch on.

“A big thank you to, Tenby Round Table, Tenby & District Lions, Steve Briers Disco Roadshow and the brilliant acts who entertained the crowds all day, Tenby Lifeboats RNLI, Tenby Fire Station, Tenby House Hotel, HM Coastguard, Tenby Smart Gardens Landscapes, De Valence Pavilion...and of course the big man himself Father Christmas!”