RUDOLPH may have been nowhere to be seen, but Father Christmas still made a star-studded entrance into Yarnton this afternoon.

Despite leaving the reindeers at home he visited the children at Yarnton Nurseries after touching down - by helicopter.

He was joined by eight-year-old Lily Finn, from Kidlington, who won a ride on the helicopter through a competition run by the garden centre.

On arrival she said: "It was really exciting. I was a bit nervous at first though.

"It was really good to fly over our house too."

Pilot Simon Clark helped calm any fears about the lack of animals involved, saying that the reindeers were having a short break before the hard work begins this Christmas.