Sat nav blamed as Easter Bunny fluffs his deliveries

But unfortunately this year is going to be remembered for all the wrong reasons for dozens of youngsters and their fed-up parents in the Lothians.

Staff at Haddington-based Family Cabaret Company had hoped to bring some Easter magic to children by dispatching Marvo the giant rabbit to deliver their eggs.

But the bunny failed to show for many of his scheduled deliveries, leaving dozens of youngsters heartbroken and Marvo with chocolate egg on his face.

A spokesman for the company, which offered the visits for £5, yesterday issued an apology to the disappointed families saying it had been overwhelmed by the number of bookings but had kept the majority of appointments.

Heavy traffic and sat nav problems were also an issue, they said.

Dozens of angry parents, however, had already taken to the For Sale or Wanted in East Lothian Facebook group, where the service was first advertised, to voice their fury.

Carol Evans wrote: “Booked the Easter Bunny for my two grandchildren they were over excited all morning confirmed by phone and . . . The Easter Bunny never showed up.

“Grandchildren very upset, not the best Easter present.”

Tracey Shaw said that her child was left asking if the Easter Bunny had “forgot about her” before Marvo finally turned up four hours late.

“It almost broke my heart to see her wee face,” she said.

June Greig, who runs the Facebook group, said that hundreds of angry comments had been left. “I think they just had too many people on the schedule and bit off more than they could chew,” she said.

“It’s a shame for the kids that were let down, but it’s all got a bit out of hand.”

The spokesman for the company, which usually lays on children’s parties, said: “We have a giant rabbit, and decided to offer an Easter egg delivery service.

“We weren’t expecting much interest but the demand was so high that we had to turn people down.

“We had a few delays on Saturday but we got round to everybody. On Sunday, we were in Tranent there were some new housing developments, and we were using a sat nav.

“Some of the houses weren’t on the system, so we struggled to find them. Then there was heavy traffic in Musselburgh.

“Soon we were having to cancel bookings. We did try to contact as many people as possible. We would like to sincerely apologise for any disappointment.

“We were trying to please as many people as possible and didn’t want to rush our visits. We feel disappointed.”

In total, 11 families out of 42 who had booked the bunny did not receive a visit on Sunday.

The company has now offered to donate the unused eggs to a worthy cause and has invited charities to get in touch.

Emma Coyle was one of the lucky ones who did receive a visit. While she said the bunny appeared “stressed”, he had still delighted her two-year old daughter, Hannah.

“You could see he was anxious but it was good,” she said.

WHY-POD PLAYLIST

Songs to cheer-up the Easter Bunny

• Hop of the Pops: The Rezillos

• Run Rabbit Run: Flanagan and Allen

• Roll With(out) It: Oasis

• Bunny (That’s what I want): The Beatles

• Bunny’s too tight to mention: Simply Red

• That Yolk isn’t Runny Anymore: The Smiths

• A Whiter Shade of Tail: Procol Harum

• Dancing With Ears in My Eyes: Ultravox

• Missing: Everything But the Bunny

• It’s Easter So We’ll Stop: Frightened Rabbit