Swindon residents were excited and shocked to see Santa Claus travel through the town’s McDonald’s drive-thru at the weekend.

Father Christmas stopped by at the Orbital Shopping Park's McDonald's on the back of his sleigh, accompanied by his reindeer, at the weekend.

Employees at the fast food restaurant were bemused to see Santa and had even, ironically, run out of carrots when asked on behalf of the reindeer.

The video of the McDonald’s order was posted on Facebook, garnering the attention of Swindonians and becoming somewhat of a viral hit.

Santa’s appearance was part of Cirencester & District Round Table’s charitable work with the group spending most of the day at the retail park.

“We go around various parts of Cirencester and the surrounding areas with helpers who are usually members of the charities we support,” said chairman Richard Dell.

We knock on doors and raise money for charity and it allows children to meet Santa and pass on letters to him.

The 36-year-old from Cheltenham devised the idea and was happy to see such a positive reaction from the restaurant staff and the public alike.

Swindon Advertiser: The drive-thru had a very specially visitor.The drive-thru had a very specially visitor. (Image: Cirencester & District Round Table)

“The last few times we have also tried to do some Saturdays and Sundays which is why we were at the Orbital Shopping Park on Saturday,” he said.

“That’s where we had the idea for Santa to visit McDonald’s as we thought it would be quite funny.

“The manager at McDonald’s was perfectly fine with it as long as we didn’t stuck but the staff didn’t seem to be aware.

“All the staff thought it was funny but were very surprised but everyone has thought it was really funny and even the police joined in with us while they were patrolling the area.”

The Round Table is a community organisation started 100 years ago, forming out of various other clubs including the Rotary.

Swindon Advertiser: Santa swapped the cookies for cheeseburgers this year.Santa swapped the cookies for cheeseburgers this year. (Image: Getty)

With members aged between 18 and 45 years old, Richard became chairman in April for a year and has been enjoying the journey so far.

“It has been really good so far and it comes with its own challenges with balancing with what everyone wants,” he said.

“We meet twice a month and we aim for one of those to be something lowkey whereas the other is more worthy such as charitable work for the community.”

The Santa sleigh runs every weeknight between the first Monday of December up to Christmas.