A LITTLE girl with cerebral palsy will wake up on Christmas morning to find that all her wishes have come true- thanks to a 10ft penguin.

Elle-Mai Laithwaite, five, of Milbrook Close, Burnley, is so disabled that she has never been able to tell her mum, Kathryn Nables, what she wants for Christmas.

But when she visited Asda, in Burnley, she was so taken with the huge, cuddly penguin - in store to promote the animated film Happy Feet - she spent all her time in the store smiling and looking at it.

And she cried when she had to leave.

Kathryn instantly knew that this was all her daughter wanted for Christmas, and that she had to get her hands on one.

After contacting Asda head office and film makers Warner Brothers trying, without luck, to buy one, she went to store manager Michelle Holmes, who persuaded her bosses and the film company to donate Mumbles the Penguin to Elle-Mai.

Kathryn said: "Elle can't talk, but we know by her smiles and her body language when she wants something. Her sister Eanna, who's four, can point things out that she wants for Christmas.

"But this is the first time Elle has properly shown us what she wants from Santa."