British Santa worker stabbed to death in Lapland
A British woman working for a tour company specialising in trips to see Santa has been stabbed to death in Lapland.
The 26-year-old tour guide, who is believed to be from Scotland, was found dead in the village of Kuttanen in Finland on Saturday.
Local police said her 36-year-old Czech boyfriend fled on a dog sled, leading to a manhunt with snow scooters and a helicopter.
Her boyfriend was found a few hours later lying in the snow in temperatures of -30C and taken to hospital.
After treatment he was taken into police custody for questioning.
The couple were seasonal workers for Santa Safaris, a supplier to Oxford-based operator Transun Travel.
A statement on Transun’s Facebook page said some of its tours could be disrupted as a result of the Finnish police investigation.
Immediately after the woman was found, police closed some roads in Finland and over the border in Sweden, preventing some planned tours from going ahead.
Transun said: "We are deeply saddened to confirm that a member of staff working for our overseas supplier Santa Safari was discovered dead on the 3rd December.
"The thoughts of everyone at Transun go out to the family, friends and the Santa Safari team. We will do everything we can to support them at this difficult time."
A Police Scotland spokesman said: "Police Scotland have been contacted by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office regarding the death of a British national in Finland and will continue to assist them as required."
A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: "We are supporting the family of a British national who died in Finland on 3 December."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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