A furious mother has accused a veteran Father Christmas of promising her seven-year-old son a £400 toy when he visited his shopping centre grotto. Linda Belnik, 35, claims her son Joshua was promised a Star Wars Death Star Lego set by the Santa, who said: 'I will call the elves now and get them to make it for you.'But managers at Westfield, White City, in London, have rallied to his defence, saying he has over 20 years' experience and knows not to offer specific gifts. Linda Belnik, 35, claims her son Joshua was promised a Star Wars Death Star Lego set by the Santa, who said: 'I will call the elves now and get them to make it for you'Mrs Belnik, from Camberley, Surrey, said she could not afford to pay £400 for the toy, and her son is now 'walking around saying Santa said he will get it'. The building company director told the Sunday Mirror: 'I was stood there cringing. I couldn't believe he'd promised such an expensive toy'. A Westfield spokesman told MailOnline: 'All grotto staff are trained and follow strict guidelines which, under no circumstances, include the promise of specific gifts.'We can confirm that the Santa working in the Westfield London grotto has over 20 years experience and has not promised any specific gifts to the child.'
But managers at Westfield, White City, in London, have rallied to his defence, saying he has over 20 years' experience and knows not to offer specific gifts Mrs Belnik said she decided not to make a scene at the time because she did not want to ruin Christmas for Joshua and her five-year-old twins, Jasmine and JasperMrs Belnik said she decided not to make a scene at the time because she did not want to ruin Christmas for Joshua and her five-year-old twins, Jasmine and Jasper. Another grotto-related controversy happened this month, when it was revealed Salvation Army officers had accidentally handed out penis-shaped rubber bands. One of the £400 Star Wars Death Star Lego toysParents were gobsmacked when they found the member-shaped toys in goodie bags handed to youngsters at the festive event in Pill, Somerset.The Christian organisation vowed to investigate the unfortunate mishap and apologised for any offence caused.Nick Ward wrote: 'It has come to our attention that some children received inappropriate toys from Father Christmas at tonight's 'Santa's Grotto'.'
We are very sorry for this and will take this issue up with the Christmas Lights Committee, who provide the toys for Father Christmas to distribute.Fortunately, most parents commenting on a local Facebook group saw the funny side and acknowledged it had been an innocent mistake.Bear Grylls and the world's biggest LEGO set welcome the new Land Rover DiscoveryTo date, the repeated and vigorous union of Lego and Minecraft has birthed 13 play sets, ranging from the not-unreasonably-priced (£19.99), to the somewhat-more-expensive-but-still-cheaper-than-a-pony (£69.99). As of 1 June, however, purveyors of Lego Minecraft paraphernalia might well consider a small horse after all. The sixth month of 2016 brings with it Lego's brand-new The Village set, by far the most expensive Lego Minecraft offering to date at £169.99. Modelled after Minecraft's (can you guess?) village areas, the new set almost manages to justify its hefty price with a literal smorgasbord of bits and bobs, minus the cheese and ham.
Not only does The Village incorporate several different Minecraft biomes (including rainforest, snow and desert), it packs in a library, watchtower, blacksmith, butcher and marketplace - all of which you can see in rich, titillating detail, thanks to Lego's recently-released designer walkthrough video. Don't think that's the end of your plasticky pleasure, however; the set also includes four mini figures - Steve, Alex, a zombie and a zombie villager - plus two additional standard villagers, a Creeper, Enderman, pig, baby pig, and even an Iron Golem. Your £169.99 also nets you a sword and pickaxe, a crafting table, a water bucket, emerald-ore-style elements, two pumpkin heads and a chest - all of which brings the number of brick-y bits included in the Village set to over 1,500 pieces. As with all premium Lego sets, it's the sheer attention to detail that ultimately translates into those additional pennies - and The Village packs in a remarkable number of neat little touches for Minecraft aficionados.
That said, if I had £170 to burn on Lego, I know exactly which sets I'd be making a beeline for first.Lego will release a set of five female Nasa scientists, engineers and astronauts based on real women who have worked for the space agency. Maia Weinstock, an American science writer who created @legoNASAwomen, tweeted the good news on Tuesday. Thrilled to finally share: @LegoNASAWomen has passed the @LEGOIdeas Review and will soon be a real LEGO set! Weinstock submitted the set to the Lego Ideas review after it gained 10,000 votes of support from the public. The news that it had won was a “dream come true” she said. Her design beat stiff competition from 11 other entrants, including plans for a Large Hadron Collider made out of Lego. Nasa’s Hubble account tweeted that the Women in Nasa set would be available by late 2017 or early 2018. UPDATE: The @WomenNASA set has been approved by LEGO and will be available in late 2017 or early 2018! Lego Ideas competitions take place twice a year, with one or two fan suggestions eventually going into production.
Lego Ideas spokeswoman Lise Dydensborg announced the result in a video, saying Lego chose the Women of Nasa set because of its inspirational value. “As a science editor and writer, with a strong personal interest for space exploration as well as the history of women in science and engineering, Maia Weinstock’s Women of Nasa project was a way for her to celebrate accomplished women in the Stem professions,” she said. “In particular those who’ve made a big impact through their work at Nasa.” The announcement comes after the stories of black Nasa scientists Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson were told in the acclaimed Oscar-nominated film Hidden Figures. Johnson, who appeared at the Oscars ceremony on Sunday, is one of the five new Lego figures. The others are computer scientist Margaret Hamilton; astronaut, physicist and educator Sally Ride; astronomer Nancy Grace Roman; and astronaut and physician Mae Jemison. Fans rejoiced at the news on social media.