The Argus Gingerbread House has raised £15,000 to give a Christmas present to the needy people of Sussex.

Project sponsors Legal & General is so impressed with the success of the Santa's grotto in Brighton it has agreed to boost the total by another £10,000.

Every penny of the £25,000 will go straight to The Argus Appeal and the money has already been earmarked for a major community project to be revealed in the New Year.

The lights, which have enticed almost 4,000 children to visit the grotto in The Lanes since December 1, were being extinguished for the last time at 1pm today.

But the success story was almost marred when a day's takings were stolen from the grotto last week.

Organisers have only just revealed how a thief entered the premises on Sunday, December 16, went upstairs and removed up to £500 from someone's bag.

However, in a generous gesture of Christmas goodwill, Gingerbread House owner Sue Addis, of Donatello restaurant, offered to make good the loss out of her own pocket.

She said: "Father Christmas was extremely distressed and I hated to see him so upset.

"He's been so happy and cheerful there and so busy. You can't upset Father Christmas.

"I tried to explain to him that unfortunately this sort of thing happens at this time of year.

"We have lovely Christmas trees outside the restaurant but we have been replacing two a week because they go missing overnight and we are replacing the lights all the time.

"It's very sad but you have to be so vigilant."

The Gingerbread House, Brighton's former house of correction, is now up for sale but in the short term Sue hopes it can be used to generate even more money for The Argus Appeal.

She said: "It would seem such a shame to rip it all out immediately. If anyone has any good ideas about how to put it to good use, I would love to hear from them.

"We delayed the sale of the house to allow the Gingerbread project to go ahead. We had a lot of interest in the property beforehand but I put them all off and I think they've all found other properties now. It is still on the market.

"The restaurant is very proud to have been connected with this project, which has been such an enormous success.

"All the kids have been coming into the restaurant with their presents from Santa and they're just over the moon.

"It has been a one-off, there really has been nothing else like it and a lot of praise must go to the person who had the original idea for it, Elsa."

Project co-ordinator Elsa Gillio said: "The success of the grotto has exceeded our wildest expectations.

"We are looking at using the money for an exciting community project which will be closely identified with The Gingerbread House and will be of benefit to the whole community.

"We hope to be able to announce it early next year.

"The theft was a big blow but Sue came to the rescue. The generosity of our sponsors Legal & General in giving us an extra £10,000 has been another huge boost as has the gift of an extra £500 from Seeboard.

"We owe everything to our Santa-in-Chief, Terry Burns. He's been out there every day drumming up support and working tirelessly to ensure it was a success.

"The highlights for me have been reading the letters in The Argus from people who had enjoyed it so much they took the time to put pen to paper and, ultimately, the money we raised and will be able to use so effectively.

"The low point was day 16 when somebody stole the takings. It was a very malicious, calculated theft, obviously done by a professional who must have thought Christmas had come early.

"But there's no point saying it's a charity Christmas grotto because these people steal children's bikes and beat up old ladies.

"We just picked ourselves up and got on with it."

Chief Santa Terry said: "I've been down at the house for each of the 24 days and we've had a few setbacks and learned a few lessons but this will be remembered for a long time. The crowds have built and built but what has really brought the crowds in has been the snow shower.

"All the comments have been favourable and the parents, who are the real judges, have been thrilled with the value for money.

"The standard of my team of Santas has been very high. they have been so professional and looked absolutely magnificent."

Gianna Dodd, a spokeswoman for Legal & General and a trustee of The Argus Appeal, said the company was thrilled with the success of the project.

Every child who visited the grotto received a free raffle ticket and has been entered in a draw for a rocking horse donated by Brighton store Earthly Artifacts.

The draw will take place on December 29 and the winner announced in The Argus on New Year's Eve.