Beards wagged and bellies bobbed when more than 250 Father Christmases took to the streets for an annual dash to raise money for a hospice charity.

c, raising more than £6,000 for the charity.

The two-mile route started at Nower Hill High School and the group of St Nicks made its way along Pinner Road, to Marsh Road and Pinner High Street before returning to the school.

Winning Santa on the day Danny Watkins said: "St Luke’s is a great cause and a local charity. The Santa Dash was a nice friendly run, well organised and well marshalled.”

Sara Robinson, a teacher at Nower Hill, the host school, was the fastest woman. She said: "Many of our students had expressed a keen interest to participate and as Year 7 co-ordinator at Nower Hill, I wanted to support both them and the community. It was a fantastic event and well supported by marshalls and crowds along the route. I hope to be back next year!”

The first under-16-year-old was Matthew Goodwin-Freeman, who lives in Pinner and decided to take part after seeing a banner advertising the event. Matthew said: "Fantastic race, loads of support and a great event to do. A perfect way to start Christmas, and brilliant for someone looking for a Christmas race. Ho Ho Ho!”

Fundraising Director for St Luke’s Pam Russell said: “It can be a tough time of year for families who are coping with a serious illness, and it is great that such a wide range of people came together to show their care by raising much needed funds for patients at St Luke’s.”