Those panicked by a sighting of the retired New World Hastings Santa outside a Hawke's Bay funeral home need fear not - the big old man's not going up the chimney just yet.
Terry Longley Jr reassured the Hawke's Bay Today a photo of the Santa posted on the company's Facebook page on Wednesday was not actually where his journey tied to the truck had finished.
The Santa was removed from the supermarket's roof for the final time after 17 years watching over Hastings at Christmas on Tuesday.
Longley Jr said the man in the red suit had been stored near his funeral home in the off-season for years.
Commenters on the photo, which was captioned "Funeral details to follow", were concerned about a potential cremation of the man, as well as pondering just how big the coffin would need to be for an 8m high, 4m high 700kg jolly fellow.
