Unemployed people in Austria have been drafted in to fill a shortage of Santas.

Job centres have been sending out of work men on one-day training courses to show them how to do a convincing “ho ho ho” and deal with difficult children.

The courses started because Austrian employers had complained of a lack of Santas to fill their grottos.

The classes are free to the unemployed and charity workers but organisers have also had requests from fathers wanting to fool their kids.

Posters in the job centres bear the slogan “We value professional Father Christmases” and several hundred people have graduated with Santa Certificates of Excellence.

Maybe Billy Bob Thornton (pictured), otherwise known as Bad Santa, should take a leaf out of their book.