Council not in Christmas spirit as village tree cut down by mistake

COUNCIL workers chopped a village’s Christmas tree to pieces after complaints poured in that a replacement was urgently needed.

However, after they had finished the job it emerged that the original tree – with its sparse brown branches – had already been taken away from Tarbert, in Mid Argyll.

And the team from Argyll and Bute Council – armed with a power saw – had unwittingly destroyed the newly delivered replacement, described by the suppliers as a “beauty”.

With Tarbert’s Christmas lights ceremony looming, a third tree was quickly organised, but arrived too late to be decorated in time for the weekend switch-on ceremony.

Tarbert shopkeeper and community councillor Ian Macintyre said the tree fiasco had become the talk of Tarbert.

He said: “The first tree just wasn’t the best looking tree, a lot of the branches were a bit sparse and dead looking, but the people who supplied the tree were prepared to bring a new one, which they did.

“Whether the council was asked to take away the old tree I don’t know, but they turned up with a power saw and chopped the new tree, which had been laid down, ready to be put up.”

Andrew Dixon, of tree suppliers RDS Forestry said the new tree was a “beauty” and in a social media statement said:

“All agreed and we would drop new tree and remove the old one so that there was no hassle while the lorry was there. Anyway, new tree was delivered and the rest is history.”

An Argyll and Bute Council spokesperson said: “In everyone’s effort to be helpful, there seems to have been a breakdown in communication.”