A CHRISTMAS fairy has had a festive wish come true which will allow her - or him - to be in two places at once.

Behind the flimsy disguise is 38-year-old father of three, Paul Waugh, of Loftus, east Cleveland, who on Sunday is supposed to be running the annual Loftus Poultry Run dressed as a fairy. At the same time, he is due to be helping volunteers serve up Christmas lunch for residents at Wykeham Court, in Skelton.

So race organisers at Loftus Athletics Club and Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council have issued Mr Waugh with a special pass allowing him to start the race an hour early, at 11am, so he can swap his fairy costume into his waiter's uniform.

Mr Waugh, who works as a belt technician at Cleveland Potash, said: "This will be my 11th consecutive Poultry Run and I didn't want to miss it. But I didn't want to miss helping out with the community Christmas dinner, either.

"I just need to finish before everyone else starts and I'll be okay. But I haven't done as much training as I should because I sprained my ankle doing the Great North Run."

Joanne Hodgson, of the organising team, said: "How could we refuse to help a lad like Paul? He's a real character.

The proper run, which is expected to attract more than 600 runners, will leave Loftus Leisure Centre at midday.