A PETITION to save the axed Santa parade in Poole gathered more than 1,000 supporters in just 24 hours.

On Saturday the Daily Echo reported that the popular tradition, which sees thousands of people line the streets from Poole Quay to the Dolphin Centre as they watch Father Christmas visit the town, has been cancelled amid safety concerns.

Dolphin Centre manager John Grinnell says the decision was made because of increased concern “about the volume of people in such a confined space.”

This prompted 18-year-old Sophie Holland, who grew up in the area but is currently studying at Oxford University, to set-up an online petition to fight the decision made by Mr Grinnell and urging the council to intervene to keep the tradition alive.

View and sign Sophie's petition to save the Santa parade here 

By yesterday it had received more than 1,000 signatures and Ms Holland’s friend, Ryan Stiggants, also 18, mobilised a group of residents to Falkland Square where hundreds more backed the campaign throughout the day.

“Using health and safety as an excuse is not on, they can make this happen if they want to,” Mr Stiggants said.

“As a little child I had great memories of Santa coming in on the lifeboat.

“I don’t want kids today to miss out and you can see that from the comments on the petition so far.”

Cllr Charmaine Parkinson was among those helping collect signatures and said the community had been let down.

“It’s short-sighted,” she added. “The children are devastated, parents are angry – I just don’t see the sense in it. It is an outrageous decision.

“I think the petition is fantastic. An 18-year-old at university has put this petition together, organised it on social media and helped get it out there. We are more than happy to support this campaign.”

Ms Holland said although she is delighted with the support received so far she will not be satisfied until the parade has been re-instated.

She added: “It gets the whole town into the Christmas spirit and stopping it will be a great loss.”