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LONDON - Santa Claus has been forced to carry out his Christmas duties cowering under a hard hat after youths in a Scottish town pelted him with festive mince pies.
Santa was hit by a hail of pastry and dried fruit as the youths launched a barrage of mince pies from the upper level of the shopping centre in Paisley, west of Glasgow.
Now worried shopping centre chiefs, fearing a repeat siege of Santa, have taken "drastic" measures, issuing him with a builder-style hard hat.
Centre manager Andrew MacKinnon said Christmas shoppers were shocked by Saturday's salvo.
"We are a multi-level centre, and have taken this somewhat drastic action to protect Santa from possible injury," he explained.
"Such an incident does give rise to health and safety concerns, and we take the safety of our staff very seriously."
Santa's new hard hat has been decorated with red reindeer antlers to "Christmas it up a bit", he added.
Derek Mackay, the Scottish National Party leader on the local Renfrewshire Council, said the mince pie "madness" could harm Paisley, home of the famous Paisley pattern.
"Santa's visits to Renfrewshire have normally been controversy-free," he insisted. "This sort of thing does not do Paisley any favours, but is not normally a problem.
"Although hardly the spirit of Christmas, I am sure it was just a one-off moment of madness by those involved."
- AFP
