Kind-hearted fishing merchants in Newlyn are offering an extra Christmas treat to help locals this month, with a free festive giveaway.

The team from Cornwall Fish Direct will be dressing as Father Fishmas – and his elves - on Friday, December 16 to offer free fish portions to residents.

Snowy footprints will lead the way to the company’s unit in Wesley Place, and the team will be there between 1pm and 3pm.

Saul Astrinsky, company director, said it would be a festive occasion with the team dressed up.

Saul, from Nancledra, said: “We just thought it was a good idea to help a few of the locals around here.

“We’re putting out leaflets to lots of places but we don’t know whether we’ll get 20 people or 100.

“Hopefully we’ll have enough for everyone – we have some portions in freezers so there should be plenty to give everyone four portions with a mix of white fish like hake and plaice.

“We know most people are pinching the pennies this Christmas so we wanted to give something back to the community we call home.

“You can tell by the amount of people going out and saying the restaurants are a bit quieter than usual that people don’t have the same amount of extra cash to spare.

“We’ve been going for two-and-a-half years and we’re doing well so we wanted to do something for the community which has supported us.”

The offer will be on a first come, first served basis – for more information follow Cornwall Fish Direct on Facebook.