SHOPPING centre Santas will be handing out presents while sitting on a throne made out of reclaimed timber this Christmas.

Pallet Earth, based in Birtley, uses discarded pallets, scaffolding boards, packing crates, cable reels and even trees to make more than 40 different items of indoor and outdoor furniture and gifts.

Their thrones are used by story-tellers in schools and libraries, have been a prop in a Shakespearean production and as personalised gifts for newly-weds.

They have featured in a Viking-themed marriage ceremony, a backdrop for tourist photos in Edinburgh and the focal point for an ancient Egyptian-themed event.

Now shopping centres and arcades in Hull, North London, Teesside and Tynemouth have been ordering the thrones as the ideal seat for Santa.

David Revett, 42, one of the company’s founders, said: “We lent a throne to a community centre in Birtley last year for him, so word must have spread.

“The timber would just be dumped or burned if we didn’t put it to better use.”