A PARENT has been left ‘gutted’ after finding out his daughter’s primary school will be serving the children a cold selection of sandwiches in replacement of the usual festive hot Christmas dinners.

Matt Tolley, from Padgate, was outraged to be told that his seven-year-old daughter would this year be receiving an option of ham, cheese and tuna sandwiches after Christ Church Primary School announced they had scrapped the hot Christmas meal they do traditionally serve.

The primary school, located on Station Road hosts a Christmas party each year, with this year’s being held next Friday 16.

But traditions will be broken as the children will be provided with a choice of sandwiches, sausage rolls, a bag of crisps, some carrot sticks, a short bread biscuit and a satsuma.

Matt said: “They have always done hot Christmas dinners. It’s next Friday and it is meant to be snowing and none of the children will have a hot dinner.

“This might be the only hot meal some of those children get in a day.”

The wedding DJ also said of how after addressing his issues with the head teacher about this decision, his complaints were ‘laughed off’.

Speaking of his sadness for his daughter who along with the other pupils at the school, will not experience the hot school meal on the day, he said: “I am gutted for her because she was looking forward to a Christmas dinner.”

After posting his rejections to the decision on social media, the dad was met by comments from many other disgruntled parents who also were not happy with the prospect of cold sandwiches as a replacement for the hot meal.

One parent said: “What's Christmassy about a ham, tuna, or cheese butty?”

While another said: “The kids love Christmas Dinner, gets them in the spirit. Very disappointing, can’t see what the problem is?”

In response to the controversy over the Christmas meal, Ian Williams, head teacher at the school said it boiled down to the wastage of food that they have seen in previous years of the hot Christmas dinners.

He said: “Every year, this one included, all of our staff and pupils come together to enjoy a Christmas lunch before the festive break.

“As part of this, the hall is decorated, children sit at festively decorated tables, there is Christmas music playing, and plenty of time to socialise.

“In previous years, we’ve noticed that there has been more food wastage than usual at the end of the traditional Christmas dinner, so this year, our school meals service suggested that we could experiment with something slightly different by providing more of a buffet-style menu.

“More food wastage is usually a sign that children aren’t enjoying or eating the whole meal, and perhaps then go hungry, which is something no-one would want. Hopefully a revised menu will appeal to more children, and everyone will enjoy the experience of our annual Christmas gathering.”