Police were called in to prevent a clergyman dressed as Father Christmas from delivering presents to children at an asylum centre. Rev Canon James Rosenthal, dressed in a red robe with a long white beard, was refused entry by guards at Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre in Bedfordshire. After a stand-off, security guards called the police to remove Mr Rosenthal who is the Anglican church's leading expert on St Nicholas, reports the Daily Telegraph. Mr Rosental said he was "extremely disappointed" that 35 boys and girls at the centre were denied a pre-arranged visit by the patron saint of children and the imprisoned. "St Nick has never been turned away from anywhere before. So I was extremely disappointed not to be able to hand deliver the gifts to the children detained at Yarl's Wood," he said. Serco, a private security company that operates Yarl's Wood, referred questions to the Home Office. A spokesman said only people subject to stringent security checks can be allowed into the detention centre and there can be no exceptions. Mr Rosental was accompanied on the trip earlier this month by the Rev Professor Nicholas Sagovsky, canon theologian at Westminster Abbey. He said: "This was about bringing a moment of joy to kids locked up in a deplorable situation. I can't help but contrast the smiles and wonderment on the faces of the children St Nicholas visited at a local primary school with the sad fate of those kids who will be locked up in Yarl's Wood over Christmas." The £300 worth of presents - donated by churchgoers - were eventually loaded into an unmarked van by security guards. Source: Ananova