EXCITED nursery school children met Santa Clause yesterday to tell him what they want for Christmas, and were told some festive stories themselves.

Youngsters from York House Day Nursery, in Bishop Auckland, were invited to see Santa in his grotto at Bishop Auckland Town Hall.

Later, Sue Snowdon, chairman of Bishop Auckland Town Centre forum's marketing and promotions committee, read Christmas stories to the group.

The forum has transformed the town hall basement to create a winter wonderland so that children can visit Santa and also post their Christmas list in an allocated post box.

The children were accompanied by Debby Shaw, centre manager at the nursery, who thanked Ms Snowdon for inviting them.

"The kids were very excited when they saw they were going to see Santa," she said.

"They were a bit quiet at first but were soon telling him what they wanted. They were too shy to sit on his knee but they stood beside him."