A family from the West Midlands, got more than they bargained for on their recent trip to South Devon. Having had their home burgled the week before their Christmas holiday, the last thing they expected to find was a bag full of swag waiting for them in their Brixham holiday home. But that’s exactly what they got.

However, instead of a haul of stolen items the swag bag in question turned out to be a Santa’s sack stuffed full of Christmas presents that they’d won in a secret Santa sur-prize draw held by Blue Chip Holidays.  This case of karma turned out to be a matter of pure chance.

Richard Darby, who booked the holiday for all ten of his family including grandchildren, parents, partners, siblings and grandparents, said, “When we entered our holiday home our initial thought was that the sack under the tree was just full of empty boxes wrapped up for decoration.

“Then we read the card and couldn't believe that they were actually real presents, and for us. We were absolutely overjoyed! This was a truly pleasant surprise, especially after the heartache that we had just experienced due to the burglary of the family home.”

Alan Taylor, Managing Director for Blue Chip Holidays, said, “Every year we run a prize draw as a way of saying thank you to our customers who book a week with us at Christmas. We choose one lucky family at random and this year it turned out to be the Darby’s. We had no idea that they had just been burgled, so to pull them out of the hat was pretty amazing.”

The family’s daughters got hobby horses, a doll’s house, doll, and a Wendy House. The boys got a pop up farmyard, farm animals, a tractor and trailer, the farmer and his family. The dads got a flying helicopter and a designer wallet. The mums got chocolates, Granddad got a of bottle of port and champagne and Granny got a British Bake Off book. The family even got given a Brain of Britain board game.

Taylor added, “We had a lot of fun choosing the presents, but I doubt we’ll ever be able to make anyone’s Christmas surprise as special or as poignant.  That said we’ll be holding our annual Christmas present draw next year, so you never know.”

Click here for Devon holiday cottages