Charity volunteers were left stunned when Home Bargains bosses would not allow a Father Christmas fundraiser to be set up in a Kent store.

RNLI organisers had arranged for their Santa to collect donations from shoppers and dish out goodie bags to children at the branch in Whitfield, Dover.

However, because the visit was not booked via the discount retailer’s head office, the volunteers were turned away.

Residents have described Home Bargains' actions as "awful" and "unbelievable", while one councillor says the decision shows a “shocking” lack of common sense.

The fundraiser organiser for the lifeboat charity posted about the incident on social media on Friday.

He said: “If you were expecting to see the RNLI FREE Santa at Home Bargains Dover today and tomorrow, sadly he will not be there, as the store manager arranged this with us in the spring and their area manager overruled him and told us to leave.”

Having been told all bookings need to be made through the company’s head office – a new procedure, according to the RNLI – the charity was left scrambling at the last minute to find a willing host for Santa.

But despite the initial disappointment, the fundraisers say their hastily reorganised events - at the town centre Morrisons and Tesco stores - were “a great day out for many local supporters”.

Kent County Council’s Dover West representative Cllr David Beaney (Con) told KentOnline: “It’s shocking Home Bargains wouldn’t use common sense.

“The fundraisers do so much for Dover and they shouldn’t have been stopped.”

District councillor Pamela Brivio (Lab) described it as a “strange decision”, adding: “There is plenty of room at Home Bargains. There have been a lot of different organisations during the year.”

Reacting to the RNLI organiser’s post, one resident said “that’s awful” while another vowed: “Last time I use Home Bargains in Dover.”

A Home Bargains spokesperson confirmed to KentOnline it had refused the event as a representative from the charity did not have permission from head office to collect donations in the store.

They said at the point of refusal only a man and a collection table had arrived - and no one had yet dressed up as Father Christmas.

The company did, however, say it “would be delighted to welcome Santa”.

“Our area manager advised we need to have authorisation from head office for charity collections which the gentleman didn’t have,” the spokesperson said.

“The store has had no contact with RNLI requesting a collection since the summer. We would welcome any further approach from RNLI to collect at our site through our head office.”

The RNLI managed to raise £500 across the two days in the other Dover supermarkets.

With just under 10,000 volunteers across the UK and Ireland, the charity says 95% of its funds are spent on maintaining and running the service, including carrying out heroic rescues.

Since 1855, Dover lifeboats have launched on service 2,694 times and saved 984 lives.

Last year, they launched 100 times, aided 1,364 people and saved five lives.