Families on the Ravenswood estate in Ipswich have spoken of their disappointment after it was announced Rudolph and Santa won’t be passing through their streets this year.

Ipswich Round Table, who organise the Rudolph Runs, has announced it is unable to do so for logistics reasons but says the nearest place for Ravenswood residents to see Santa will be when it starts at John Lewis on Futura Park at 6pm on Tuesday December 4.

However residents have expressed sadness at missing out. Posting on the Ravenswood Residents Facebrook group, Chris Kroger said: “This is really, really sad.”

A Round Table spokesman said: “The volunteers who plan and undertake the Rudolph runs are all people with full-time jobs and many have young families.

“This year we are out 16 nights collecting between 6.30pm and 9pm.

“We try our best to visit as much of Ipswich as possible but we can’t always achieve this because there are only so many nights we can be out. “Unfortunately on this occasion we had to make a difficult decision as we couldn’t, in the time available, do the same number of nights as last year. “However our first aim is to raise money for charity and I am sure, although they are disappointed, the residents of Ravenswood will understand the benefit of the work we do for our local community.”

The Rudolph Run has been going for 40 years and in that time tens of thousands of pounds has been raised for local charities and causes.

The Round Table spokesman added: “This year we are collecting money to support dementia care in our local community. In addition to raising vital funds to help good causes we also aim to bring Christmas to as many people and families in Ipswich as we possibly can.”

Posting on the Ravenswood Residents Facebook group, Monika Pavlikova, said: “I’ll go out with a banner if needed we want our Santa back. Little things like this make Christmas time special.”

Ipswich Roundtable have confirmed the Rudoplh Run will be starting from John Lewis on Futura park at 6pm on Tuesday, December 4. They have said this is the nearest option for people living in Ravenswood who want to see Santa.

They added: “People are welcome to come and see Santa and Rudolph at any of the starting points on other runs throughout December.”

You can find out the dates and everything else you need to know about the 2018 Ipswich Rudolph Run here.