Council workers chopped up a village’s new Christmas tree, thinking it was the old one locals had complained about.
They only discovered the original – complete with brown, sparse branches – had been removed after they had finished the job in Tarbert, Argyll.
The Argyll and Bute Council team – armed with a power saw – destroyed the replacement, which had been described by suppliers as a “beauty.”
With Tarbert’s Christmas lights ceremony looming, a third tree was quickly organised but arrived too late to be decorated for the weekend switch-on.
Community councillor Ian MacIntyre said the tree fiasco had become the talk of the town.
He said: “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: “We liaised with the council, who kindly said they would happily erect (a second tree) if we delivered.
“All agreed and we would drop new tree and remove the old one so there was no hassle while the lorry was there. Anyway, new tree was delivered and the rest is history. I am still waiting for Jeremy Beadle to jump out with the camera.”
An Argyll and Bute Council spokesperson said: “In everyone’s effort to be helpful, there seems to have been a breakdown in communication.”
