Female Santa Claus makes an appearance at Colchester Christmas Market

Shrub End Christmas Market, in St. Cedds Hall, is an annual event put on to spread Christmas cheer and raise money for local charities.

But the popular Father Christmas' grotto was thrown into doubt after the male Santa Claus set to attend had to pull out of the event. 

Grotto - Claire Derring stepped in to play as Father Christmas (Image: Claire Derring)

In a bid to not disappoint the children, Claire Derring, the event organiser, stepped in and dressed as Santa for the event.

But the move did not go down well with parents who took to social media branding the decision as "wrong".

Emma Lofting, took her niece to the market and claims when the little girl was faced with the female Father Christmas, she got upset and asked where he had gone.

Empty - What the grotto would have looked like if Claire did not step in (Image: Claire Derring)

Emma said: "I had my young niece with me excited to see Santa, however, when she saw her and heard her my niece became upset and asked where Santa had gone.

"I felt it was wrong considering they had one male elf that could have clearly swapped roles and when I mentioned it to the staff they all laughed."

Festive - Claire Derring as female Father Christmas with a friend (Image: Claire Derring)

Other parents claimed it "ruined the magic of Christmas for the children who went to the grotto". 

But some questioned why people care so much about the gender of a fictional character.

Organiser Claire defended the decision saying there had been no complaints made on the day. 

She said: "Unfortunately, our male Santa was unable to attend due to unforeseen circumstances, so rather than disappointing the children, I stepped in as Santa for the event.

"Our grotto raised funds towards our final figure for Helen Rollason Cancer Charity and Shrub End War Memorial Fund.

"We weren't made aware of any complaints on the day nor any children upset and the grotto was busy all day."