Saucy Santa shop display gets visit from the police
A business owner has been accused of spoiling Christmas – and even received a visit from police – after a tongue-in-cheek saucy shop display.
Richard Phipps, depot manager at Rawstone Hire, had hoped to raise a smile rather than a complaint with his Santa-themed scantily-clad store dummies
One was sporting a festive mankini, while the other wore a bottom-skimming red and white dressing gown.
But the light-hearted gesture of dressing mannequins as sexy Santas outside the shop in Riverhead, Sevenoaks, soon backfired.
The London Road business received a visit from two PCSOs after the matter was reported to the police, although no crime was deemed to have been committed.
Mr Phipps said: “Putting the mannequins in the window at Christmas is something I started doing three years ago after seeing them for sale in a shop.
“Putting them in the sexy Santa outfits was just a bit of fun and people seem to have been enjoying them, stopping outside to take selfies with the pair.
The 59-year-old added: “Most people say it has brightened up their day, but there was a lady who came in on Friday shouting that we’d spoiled Christmas.
“She phoned up later and said she was going to call the police.
“I was really surprised by the reaction, but you have to see the funny side.”
A police spokesman said: “On December 2, we were called by a member of the public who made a complaint about a business’s display in London Road, Riverhead.
“The business was visited by local PCSOs who found no offences had been committed.”