He may have been dressed all in fur from his head to his foot, but this Santa was no saint.

According to Metropolitan Nashville Police, a man wearing a Santa Claus suit - including hat, beard and moustache - and dark sunglasses robbed a SunTrust Bank, demanding money from a member of staff at gunpoint.

After the teller handed over the cash, the man fled in a grey car.

According to witnesses, the bank clerk had asked the robber to remove his sunglasses.

He refused, reached into his sack and pulled out his gun.

He demanded money and told staff if they put dye bombs with the cash he would come back and "kill everyone".

He stashed the money his sack and fled, telling staff and customers he needed the cash because "Santa needed to pay his elves."

Police have refused to reveal how much money was taken.

Police spokeswoman Kristin Mumford said it was the first time a Santa suit has been used to pull off a robbery in the area in recent years.

"I don't remember a Santa doing that," Ms Mumford said.

The clothing of choice is usually sweatshirts and sunglasses or a Halloween mask, she added.

The suspect is described as white, with brown hair and about six feet tall.

It is not unheard of for robbers to don Santa suits as a disguise.

In the most notorious case, a gang including a man dressed as Santa shot and killed six people and injured several others in a robbery in Cisco, Texas, on December 23, 1927.