A supermarket worker goes the extra mile every December to spread festive cheer in the local community, by letting his inner Santa Clause take over on his checkout.

Jimmy Smith, 75, bares a striking resemblance to Father Christmas and began dressing up as his double a few years ago after his colleagues had joked about their many similarities.

What was originally a light-hearted joke amongst colleagues, Jimmy has now committed to taking on the role of Santa during the festive period each year, trading his Asda uniform in for the big red suit. He even grows out his white beard to complete the transformation.

The Leader:

This isn’t Jimmy’s first foray into channelling Santa, as his previous role as a postal worker saw him deliver mail in the month of December too.

The Wrexham local joined the Asda store 11 years ago as a customer greeter, a role which involves having a big personality to warmly welcome customers into the store and help with any questions and queries.

Mary Williams, community colleague at Asda Wrexham, said: “Jimmy is such a well-known character in store and everyone loves him. He’s been at our store for such a long time that dressing up has become a real tradition.

“I worked with Jimmy as a greeter for years and saw first-hand how much of a friendly and approachable person he is. He loves chatting to people and is happy for children and their parents coming up to say hello. He’ll chat and wish them a Merry Christmas as Santa would”

The Leader:

Dean Goulding, Customer Trading Manager at Asda, Wrexham said “What Jimmy does is fantastic. He has a great approach and is a real credit to the Wrexham store. Even with all the attention, he always manages to get on with his work and put in one hundred percent.

“Children are always so excited to see him and they’re running up to his store. Seeing Jimmy as Santa not only puts a smile on customers faces but it brightens up our day too.”

With customers and children alike flocking to Jimmy’s till, his manager Dean has had to step in and move excitable shoppers along to allow Jimmy to continue serving customers on the checkouts.

Asda Wrexham shoppers can visit Jimmy’s till this Christmas to get into the Christmas spirit and catch some of his infectious festive cheer.