The Marquis hotel worker injured in Hadleigh hit-and-run

Steven O'Leary, owner of the historic Marquis of Cornwallis hotel in Layham, near Hadleigh, was dressed as Santa Claus for an event that sees a group of staff members delivering advent calendars to care homes in the town.

One of his elves, who stood between the minibus and the door, was injured after the car slammed into the door at around 6.40pm on Tuesday (November 28).

The car, which was travelling from the direction of Raydon and towards Hadleigh, left the scene, leaving the staff member with bruising, as the door took most of the impact.

Steven O'Leary dressed as Santa Claus (Image: Submitted)

Mr O'Leary said: "We usually deliver advent calendars and it's always a fantastic feeling going around and doing this. They cry and cheer.

"This year we took it up a notch. I dressed up as Father Christmas and some of my staff dressed up as elves.

"Our minibus was parked outside the Marquis, but in the layby area, and we were loading advent calendars into the back of the vehicle.

"One of my staff went around to the front of the vehicle and we just heard this almighty crash. She got hit by the door as the car smashed into it and then drove off.

A minibus door was damaged in the incident (Image: Submitted)

"There were two cars behind it, so they would have seen something. If somebody was there, we would like them to get in touch.

"She was left with bruising but it could have been a thousand times worse. We were delivering 300 calendars into nearby homes, which is a fantastic thing for us to be able to do, and it was just spoiled."

The staff member added: "It was horrendous. I'm grateful that nothing more serious happened.

"We would also like to apologise for any residential homes we couldn't make on the night, and we will follow up."