Hundreds dressed as Santa Claus gather in Shoreditch ahead of Christmas

Hundreds of people dressed as Santa Claus descended on the East End during a surprise visit this weekend.

The meeting points for London’s annual SantaCon which sees thousands of revellers dress up as Father Christmas were a tightly kept secret until the last minute.

So staff at Boxpark, the world’s first pop up mall, on Bethnal Green Road were stunned when the flash mob turned up unannounced on Saturday.

A Boxpark spokeswoman said: “Our centre manager was completely blown away by the sight of all these people dressed as Santa Claus but managed to take some photos.”

The venue was one of three meeting points for the revellers before travelling by tube for a Santa Claus gathering at Trafalgar Square.