A school is preparing a grotto with a difference for its popular Christmas bazaar.

Visitors expecting to find a traditional Santa at the Brighton Steiner School event will be disappointed.

This year the school, in Roedean Road, Brighton, will have a gnome's grotto which children will crawl inside.

They will be told a story and then given fake rocks to break open with mini-hammers, revealing crystals inside.

The organisers want the bazaar at the school to reflect more traditional values and customs.

The popular annual bazaar attracts thousands of visitors and school spokeswoman Sarah James said it tried to take a slightly different approach to Christmas each year.

She said the school tried to explore different cultures and traditions. A figure of Saint Nicholas, who was the origin of Santa Claus, will visit the pupils at the start of advent.

Dressed in green, the original colour of his suit, he will leave gifts for the children in their slippers, in accordance with Eastern European tradition.

For the bazaar on Saturday, December 1, from 11am to 4pm, the school will be decked out with greenery and decorations.

It will include a craft market, candle dipping and choir performances as well as gingerbread decorating, homemade food and live music.

The independent school promotes itself as an alternative to mainstream education. It is one of 32 schools across Britain which follow the international Steiner-Waldorf curriculum.

The school said it emphasises holistic education and encourages pupils to develop non-academic as well as academic skills.