Gary Lineker is full of festive cheer as he dresses as Santa and rides a Walkers sleigh to celebrate his 30th anniversary with the brand

Gary Lineker surprised members of the public at London’s Battersea Power Station as he celebrated his 30th anniversary of working with Walkers on Thursday.

The sports pundit, 63, donned a snazzy red Next suit and Santa hat as he become ‘Father Crispmas’ for the evening. 

Gary rode a Walkers themed sleigh, packed high with crisps and handed out Wotsits, Walkers Sensations and Walkers MAX to stunned passersby – after famously refusing to share the treat in his numerous ads for the brand. 

At one point the former England player even jumped out of the moving festive vehicle to sign footballs for a string of young fans. 

As he made his way round the capital’s famous landmark fans gathered to catch a glimpse of him in his Christmas outfit and also grab a bag of delicious Walkers.  

Gary Lineker, 63, surprised members of the public at London’s Battersea Power Station as he celebrated his 30th anniversary of working with Walkers on Thursday

The sports pundit  donned a snazzy red Next suit and Santa hat as he become ‘Father Crispmas’ for the evening 

Gary said:’It’s hard to believe that I’ve spent almost half my life working with Walkers, so we definitely felt we needed to kick off our 30th year with something memorable’.

‘And in three decades of Christmas, Walkers has now finally persuaded me to dress like this, and transform into ‘Father Crispmas!’.

‘I’ve worked with some amazing people on the many campaigns I’ve done with Walkers over the years, but if I was finally going to agree to share my crisps with anyone,’ 

Adding: ‘There was only one option for who it could be – it had to be the great British public… but only because it’s Christmas!’’

Wayne Newton from Walkers added: “It’s hard to believe that in all these years we haven’t managed to get Gary donning a red festive suit and playing Santa until now,’

‘But a landmark anniversary is deserving of a landmark gesture – and Gary not only dressing as Santa for us for the first time, but also sharing his crisps for the first time is exactly that’. 

The stunt follows the recent launch of the brand’s Christmas ad which features their large sharing bag range including Walkers MAX, Sensations and Wotsits.

Also available this Christmas are a selection of limited-edition festive flavours including Walkers Festive Turkey, Pigs in Blankets and even Christmas Pudding flavour. 

Gary rode a Walkers themed sleigh, packed high with crisps and handed out Wotsits, Walkers Sensations and Walkers MAX to stunned passersby – after famously refusing to share the treat in his numerous ads for the brand 

At one point the former England player even jumped out of the moving festive vehicle to sign footballs for a string of young fans

As he made his way round the capital ‘s famous landmark fans gathered to catch a glimpse of him in his Christmas outfit and also grab a bag of delicious Walkers 

It comes after Gary’s full U-turn of his views on VAR and revealed he feels ‘guilty’ for supporting something that is now ‘ruining the game.’

In recent weeks VAR has faced massive backlash from managers, players and fans after a number of high-profile errors.

Clubs such as Arsenal, Liverpool, Wolves and many more have all been on the wrong end of decisions.

PGMOL’s head Howard Webb has been busy writing apology statements to send to clubs after incidents but managers like Mikel Arteta and Gary O’Neil have said this is not enough.

Speaking on Match of the Day, Gary backed up the grievances from managers and said he was frustrated with the amount of mistakes VAR is making.

Gary said: ‘It’s hard to believe that I’ve spent almost half my life working with Walkers, so we definitely felt we needed to kick off our 30th year with something memorable 

Gary donned smart spectacles and leather gloves as he took on the duties of Father Crispmas

Gary has featured in numerous ads for Walkers over the past 30-years (pictured in 2016)

Speaking with pundits Ian Wright and Jermaine Jenas, Lineker vented genuine anguish after more drama on Saturday involving the Arsenal vs Aston Villa game.

Arsenal fans felt they were wrongly denied a penalty during their 1-0 defeat that denied them going back to the top of the table, as Douglas Luiz brought down Gabriel Jesus in the box.

Kai Havertz was also denied a late equaliser by VAR after it was ruled the ball hit his hand in the build-up, despite also touching the arm of Villa defender Matty Cash.

Lineker insisted: ‘Why is it that the defenders can accidentally hand ball it but the forwards can’t? Why are we trying to stop goals?

‘The people who make the laws of the game why are they doing that, its really bizarre

‘I have to say I really don’t like VAR very much anymore, I was one of those that advocated it and I actually feel quite guilty, I was definitely wrong it’s spoiling the game.’

Wright agreed, labelling it ‘ridiculous’ and said it was ‘the most ridiculous law in all of law, not just football.’

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