A Grinch and his elf were simply out Christmas shopping in Wallasey on Saturday, contrary to social media reports.

Last week, concerned residents took to a Facebook group to question why the Grinch and elf were allegedly ‘kicked out’ of a Liscard shopping centre.

On December 18, residents had spotted the Grinch and a ‘naughty elf’ roaming around the inside of Cherry Tree Shopping Centre.

Shortly after arriving, the pair disappeared leaving some shoppers confused and others upset speculating they had been ‘kicked out by security’.

The Globe caught up with the Grinch to clear up the rumours and get to the bottom of what really happened.

“We are a party entertainment company and over the Christmas period we do Santa, Grinch and naughty elf visits,” explained Anthony Wood, Director of Package Hire Events Wirral.

Anthony, from Birkenhead, said the company, which has been running for five months, has been a big success across Merseyside.

“We’ve made a good name for ourselves, we are fully insured, and DBS checked. 
“We do visits to homes, schools, weddings, charity events, party packages and community centres,” he said.

In-between visits on December 18, Anthony, who plays the Grinch, and his colleague, the naughty elf, were passing through Wallasey when they decided to pick up some more stock.

Anthony said: “We use props like toilet roll and silly string which we were running low on so we decided to go into the shopping centre to restock.

“The only thing was we were still in our costumes without the masks on which can look quite strange. 

“Without the mascot head I am literally wearing green hairy legs, yellow contact lenses and a Christmas jumper. It doesn’t look good.”

Worried about frightening young children with their mismatched appearance, Anthony decided to enter the store in character.

He said: “We commit ourselves to not cut corners and we want to make our mascots look as real as possible. 

“I was worried that I would scare the kids if I walked out in the way I was dressed without the mask on and not being in proper character. It might upset them to see us half dressed as some of them think we are real characters.

“It’s not a very normal look having yellow eyes and green hairy legs.”

Anthony and his two colleagues entered Cherry Tree and were instantly met with attention from local shoppers.

“We didn’t approach anyone we just allowed people to approach us if they wanted to. It’s hit and miss with people as some love it and others don’t want to know.

“We have no problem with that we won’t pester anyone," he said.

Anthony, dressed as the Grinch and his colleague dressed as an elf said they spent no longer than 10 minutes in the shopping centre.

It wasn't until they were leaving they spoke to a member of security. 

Anthony said: “The security guard was laughing with us and asking who were and about our business.

“He didn’t throw us out it was a case of him just speaking with us an having a laugh.

“When we explained who we were and that we were just shopping he was fine with it and then we left because we had finished our shopping.”

Later that evening a post was made on a community Facebook group asking why the Grinch and elf character had been kicked out of the shopping centre which was met with outraged comments from residents.

Anthony said: “When I saw the social media post, I wanted to set the record straight. Mostly for the security guard because I don’t want people thinking he kicked us when he was really friendly and nice to us.

“It completely painted a false picture. We weren’t there for an event, we didn’t do it of our own backs, we literally just needed to go shopping.”