Part three in what can now quite justifiably be referred to as a series on the curious cast of characters who distract me while I try to write in the local reference library.

No. 3: Rancid Santa

Rancid Santa is an old, very possibly homeless, guy with a big white beard who looks like the Father Christmas from Raymond Brigg's The Snowman, but unfortunately smells like something from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

There is always a five-metre voluntary exclusion zone around Rancid Santa. He comes in every morning to read the Morning Star, so it's not just the contents of his wardrobe that's red.

If you lifted your young child off this fellow's knee to discover a big, wet patch on Santa's britches, it was probably Santa.