Our new tree caused turmoil!
Charlotte McFall, 42, is from Sheffield and is studying for her master’s degree
Afew years ago, I decided we needed a Christmas tree upgrade. It was the focal point of the room, and the one in the loft was tired and tattered, so I hit the local high street to find the perfect model.
And find it I did – a 5ft fibre optic model. At £90, it wasn’t cheap, but it looked gorgeous, so I persuaded my husband, Paul, to buy it.
Well and truly in the Christmas spirit, I also bought new tinsel and red, green and silver baubles. They cost an additional £65, but I knew that my sons, Andy, now 24, and Dale, 21, would love decorating the tree with me. I even found a cute Santa to pop on top.
At home, we set about decorating it as a family, I was so caught up that I barely noticed Andy bringing his remotecontrolled car downstairs to recharge the battery. And I definitely didn’t notice him placing the car charger right next to the tree’s electrical lead.
When we were finished, we gathered in the living room for the big switchon. With an elaborate ‘Ta-da!’, I grabbed what I thought was the lead for the tree, plugged it in and turned it on. But, rather than our room being lit up with sparkly lights, to my horror, there was a loud bang and we were plunged into darkness.
I’d plugged the lights into the car charger, blowing up our new tree and fusing all the electrics as well!
Luckily, the house lights turned back on after Paul reset the main fuse box, but our expensive tree was done for.
The next day, we bought a garland of Christmas lights to wrap around it – and, since then, Paul makes sure he is the only one who plugs in the lights!