The website of Lapland New Forest - the winter wonderland described in less than flattering terms by enraged punters who'd stumped £25-£30 for an unforgettable Yule experience - went off air earlier today amid reports that the attraction has been shut down.

According to the BBC, Lapland New Forest is no more. Trading Standards has an ongoing investigation into the operation, branded a "scam" by angry parents, some of whom were so incensed by the alleged rip-off they physically attacked Santa's little helpers.

We have been having severe and very unusual technical problems with our server computer since Monday 1st December ... not with the website itself, but the machine we lease to host the website. All effort has/is being made to identify and correct this issue, but it has left us completely unable to communicate directly to all our customers and the many interested people who may have wished to view the website and receive clear truthful information. This bizarre machine fault has also suspended all online ticket booking and we can only thank you for your understanding during this extremely difficult time and apologise to you for any concern this 'silent' situation may have created.

As well as the Trading Standards probe into 2,000 complaints regarding the Xmas extravaganza, the RSPCA is reportedly looking into "allegations of huskies, reindeer and donkeys being ill-treated" while 2,000 campaigners have taken their protest to Facebook and "hundreds of customers and disgruntled ex-staff members are planning a protest outside the site on Saturday". ®