NO, VIRGINIA, there isn't a Santa Claus.

An apparent trend among adults to tell small children Santa Claus doesn't exist is "tantamount to child abuse", according to a leading child psychologist.

Studies have found that some parents and teachers refuse to play along with the fantasy because they consider it lying to children.

In Britain, where a teacher has been sacked for telling her class of seven-year-olds that Santa doesn't exist, an Anglia Ruskin University study found many teachers avoided mentioning Santa in the classroom for fear of fostering a lie and that many parents were afraid their children could be psychologically traumatised by learning the truth.

Internet sites advising parents to tell toddlers the awful truth claim that destroying the illusion spares kids the stress caused by conflict with peers who no longer believe, grief about the loss of Santa from their lives and resentment towards their parents for lying to them.

However, child psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg said a little yuletide porkie does no harm.

"All children need to have that fantasy, that magic in their lives," DrCarr-Gregg said. "When they grow older and realise Santa isn't true, is there any evidence in the psychological literature that they're traumatised? None whatsoever.

"We have to ask ourselves: 'What do you want your grandchildren to tell their grandchildren about what Christmas was like with you?' We have so few rituals and traditions left, so few rites of passage for children. It's a sign of the times that we're rejecting anything that isn't to do with the material world. That's incredibly sad.

"A lot of parents are so caught up with making ends meet that they don't have time for this sort of stuff. People are just too busy, and that's going to have a very sad effect long term.

"It's going to take away that sense of meaning families have that makes Christmas so special. If that goes, we're in trouble."