Santas brave 5k despite Storm Darragh cancellation

Lesley Gladwell (centre) said she had been preparing for the event for weeks

Dozens of Santas braved Storm Darragh to run and walk around a Derby park, despite a festive 5K run being cancelled.

Hundreds of people were due to take part in the Derby Santa Run event at Markeaton Park, but it was called off due to the blustery conditions.

The event is held every year by Derby and Burton Hospitals Charity, in partnership with other local charities.

Lesley Gladwell, founder of Rebuild East Midlands, one of the partner organisations, was among the Santas who decided to take part regardless of the weather.

The gusts were strong enough to tear branches off trees

"It's such a shame because we've been really looking forward to it, but ultimately we want everyone to be safe, so we understand the decision to call it off," she said.

"But clearly we were excited about putting on our outfits so we wanted to go for a walk anyway.

"We've been preparing for weeks. We had a number of other people who had been preparing for this, so it's a huge event."

The decision to call the event off was made on Sunday morning.

Helen Bearn, from Allestree in Derby, knew it had been cancelled but still went along.

"We've decided to come and have a bit of a run around anyway, just to honour the people who've sponsored us," she said.

"It's a bit of as shame but I think they've got to be careful with health and safety. It's quite blowy out here and it's due to rain quite soon."