SANTA arrived in style in Oxford aboard Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He hitched a ride in 1984 in the magical car which famously starred in the musical film with Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes.

But it was not a pleasant ride for him or a pleasant day for the crowds who turned out to welcome him to the city. It rained that Saturday morning, drenching everyone.

Santa was on his way to Debenhams, where he settled into his grotto listening to hundreds of children with their list of Christmas gifts.

The Oxford Mail reported: “A rather soggy Santa brought a spot of Christmas cheer to Oxford.

“He took to the streets in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and with a helping hand from a damp, but cheerful, Pierre the Clown, took a tour of the city centre.

“His procession, led by the Cintonian Majorettes, from Cinderford, Gloucestershire, and backed up by the City of Oxford Silver Band, went from Gloucester Green via New Road to Magdalen Street.

“When the parade reached Debenhams’ store, children were invited in to sample some of the ‘Toot Sweets’ given to youngsters in the film.”

The Debenhams’ Santa wasn’t the first to arrive in Oxford that year.

Selfridges, in the Westgate Centre, had stolen a march on their rivals by installing their Santa two weeks earlier.

He rode on the upper deck of a horse-drawn open-top bus from Victorian days, with a band of pipers in front and well-dressed ladies and gentlemen from the same era following behind.

Hundreds of children had been invited to join the procession as it weaved its way, with a police escort, round the city centre from Old Greyfriars Street to the store’s main entrance in Bonn Square.

Thousands of families enjoyed a longer Christmas break than usual in 1984, thanks to the calendar.

Because Christmas Eve fell on a Monday, many firms did not bother to open their doors, so they shut on Friday, December 21 and did not reopen until Wednesday, January 2.

Shop workers, milkmen and postmen, however, were not so lucky – they worked until the last minute before Christmas and were back soon afterwards.

Butcher Michael Fiddler was so worried about thieves stealing his supply of turkeys that he kept a round-the-clock watch at his shop in Barns Road, Cowley.

He moved his bed into the shop and slept there until his customers had collected their Christmas dinners!