It brands itself the Happiest Place on Earth. But when the world’s jolliest man turned up, he was met with a distinct lack of Christmas cheer.

Officials at Walt Disney World in Florida did not have glad tidings for the kindly red-clad visitor they spotted strolling around one of their theme parks stroking his snowy-white beard and greeting wide-eyed children with his trademark “Ho ho ho”.

The officials accosted the unofficial Father Christmas look-alike — James Worley, a rotund 60-year-old who bears a startling natural resemblance to the traditional image of St Nicholas — and, he claims, ordered him to change his looks or get out.

“They told us Santa was considered a Disney character,” he complained. “Their statement to me was that I needed to alter my appearance . . . or I needed to leave the park because I was impersonating Santa Claus.”

Even after he removed his red hat with white trim and fluffy bobble, excited youngsters still tugged at his red shirt and blue jeans, asking him: “Are you Santa?” He says that he played along so as not to disappoint them — a move that caused further friction with officials at the House of Mouse.

Mr Worley, from Tampa, Florida, accompanied by his wife, Darlene, protested: “Christmas is supposed to be about kids. How do you tell a kid that comes up to you and grabs your leg and calls you Santa, how do I say, ‘Get away from me, kid, I’m not Santa?’ ” He added: “I look this way 24/7, 365 days a year. This is me. I’m not going to shave my beard off.”

The incident occurred in Epcot, one of four theme parks that make up Disney World, whose shops sell Father Christmas hats and Mickey Mouse ears for visitors to wear as they wander the properties.

Mrs Worley, who sometimes dresses up as Mrs Claus and accompanies her husband to charity Christmas events in aid of disabled veterans, said: “The kids thought it was wonderful that Santa was actually a real person in the park.”

But a spokesman for Walt Disney World said last night that it already had a management-approved Father Christmas character hard at work at Epcot, and that the organisation was simply “wanting to maintain the magic”.

“Mr Worley came to the park to enjoy himself and we want him to experience that, but he was confusing a lot of our guests. We already have a Santa in the park and we asked him to quit posing as the same character . . . We had several guests who were very upset about it.”

Disney’s dose of humbug has left Mr Worley confused. “If they have a visitor who’s tall and skinny, are they going to accuse him of impersonating Abraham Lincoln?” he asked.

His wife said that the episode had left him a little short on comfort and joy, adding: “He’s been moping.”

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