Man orders small inflatable Santa, but gets one taller than his house instead

By James Gamble

A man says he ordered a 4ft inflatable Santa - only to blow it up and discover it was taller than his house.

Dave Goodings' towering Father Christmas - measuring nearly 20ft - has become the talk of Chessington, Surrey.

The 30-year-old bought the Christmas decoration, which he claims was advertised as being just 4ft tall, for only £24.99.

Dave, a DJ, is elated a bagging such a bargain.

But he says the Santa is so big that he and his partner can no longer park on their driveway.

Dave said that though he loves his new decoration, he had to deflate it over the weekend as Storm Darragh raged.

He said: "We kept it quite low-key the first couple of years but this was the first year we decorated the outside.

"We put icicles on the guttering and ordered the inflatable Santa online for £24.99.

"It was supposed to be 4ft but it was way bigger than we ever thought it would be.

"We were very surprised… We thought the box was big, but we went with it.

"It was not what we expected when we opened it. It took about ten minutes to inflate and ended up taller than the house!

"Suddenly, we've gone from no decorations to this giant inflatable - zero to a hundred."

Dave joked that they might be taking customers from nearby theme park Chessington World of Adventures because they'd attracted so many visitors since the Santa was blown up.

"It's not that busy on our street, but within ten minutes of inflating it people were walking by and taking photos," he continued.

"One person said they could see it from the bottom of their road. It has almost become a mini tourist attraction.

"We even joked we might be stealing customers from Chessington World of Adventures!

"Everyone wants to see the giant Santa. It's the talk of the town."

Dave, an events DJ who runs his own company - Surrey and Sussex DJs - added that since posting about his new purchase online, he'd even received offers from people desperate to buy the huge inflatable off him.

"It has been quite a ride since I got it, to say the least," he said.

"It has taken off on TikTok. People are saying we have to keep it and I've also had offers to buy it.

"One guy from Ireland said he'd buy it if we could send it there.

"Other people are saying we should get an inflatable snowman to go with the Santa.

"I want to keep it - it's an opportunity too good to miss. But my missus is more realistic."

Dave admits that there are concerns about the inflatable blowing down the road and causing damage in heavy winds, and says he and his partner are still debating whether or not to send it back.

He said: "It was really windy over the weekend with the storm, and we were worried about it blowing down the street and causing some damage so we took it down.

"I think it's amazing, but my partner's being more practical.

"When something like this falls in your lap you've got to go with it, I think. We're debating whether we keep it or return it now."