THIEVES left a charitable organisation hundreds of pounds out of pocket after stealing a generator from Santa’s sleigh.

The generator, which had been borrowed by the Rotary Club of Stanford and Corringham to operate the sleigh as it travelled around giving joy to children and raising money, was stolen on Wednesday evening.

It is believed that the crooks struck as the volunteers had finished an outing in Fobbing and were taking off their uniforms in the Haywain pub car park.

The theft means that the Rotary Club will have to spend its donations on replacing the £300 generator, instead of giving to needy causes, such as Scout and Girl Guide groups.

Rotarian Richard Whitehead said that the car park was the only place where the generator could have been taken, because he took the sleigh back to his home in Langdon Hills afterwards.

He said that the way the sleigh was stored would have made it “impossible” for thieves to target it.

He said: “Somebody has obviously sneaked up and stolen the generator off the back of the sleigh.

“Without the generator, the sleigh can’t run. We have managed to borrow another generator for the time being but it just means that we are £300 short of where we were. It’s been a nightmare. It’s disgusting that someone has stolen from a charity. Ninety-five per cent of the money we raise goes to local charities or to support sports clubs.”

A statement written on the Rotary Club’s Facebook page urged children not to be disappointed if Father Christmas was not able to get down their street as advertised.

It read: “We purchased a new generator for the sleigh this year as the previous one was getting old and unreliable.

“Unfortunately it has been stolen so we are going to have to go back to using the old one. We have our fingers crossed that it will be OK for tonight and tomorrow at the town centre.

“But, we would especially ask you to not make promises to children who may be upset if Santa does not reach them. A new one is on order and we will definitely be back to normal next week.

“We are very sorry if we miss you but this is definitely beyond our control.”

So far, nobody has been arrested in connection with the theft and enquiries are still continuing.

Anyone with information about the incident can call Essex Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.