TO celebrate the opening of Santa’s Grotto and the town Christmas light switch-on event on Saturday (November 26), The Shires is giving visitors the chance to win £2,000 worth of prizes with its Secret Santa competition.

Between 12pm and 4.45pm, the centre will be giving away a prize, including an IPad Mini, LED TV, HP laptop, Kindle Fire and more, every 15 minutes.

To be in with a chance of winning, shoppers need to register their details in the centre to enter the free sweepstake.

Sarah Louise-Moore, centre manager at The Shires, said: “Not only is the annual town light switch-on event a fun and exciting day, but it also marks the arrival of Father Christmas and the opening of the grotto, so we wanted to do something extra special to mark the occasion.

“We have some fantastic prizes in our Secret Santa competition and we look forward to giving some visitors an early Christmas gift.”

The day will also see the opening of Santa’s Grotto with Father Christmas arriving to meet and greet young shopping centre visitors.

Santa Claus will be in The Shires every Thursday to Saturday between the December 1 and 17, then every day between the December 19 and 24.

In addition, a free face painter and balloon modeller will be keeping families entertained throughout the day on Saturday, November 26.

The Shires also has a post box located near Boswells where children can send letters to Santa and receive a reply.

The letters need to be posted by Saturday, December 17 and must include the child’s name and address.

For the Secret Santa competition, only one entry and one prize is permitted per person.

Each winner will need to collect their prize from The Shires and there is no cash alternative. Proof of identification will be required to collect prize.