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'Bald bits' Sudbury Christmas tree removed

Sudbury Town Council Original Christmas treeSudbury Town Council
The original tree had to be cut up with a chain saw

A Christmas tree was removed on the day it was delivered after criticism it looked as if it had been "through a hurricane".

The £900 tree was delivered and put in place in Market Hill, in Sudbury, Suffolk, on Monday but the damage was not seen until the tree was unwrapped.

Jodie Budd, of the town council, said branches were dropping off and there were "bald bits" on one side.

Elveden Farms, the grower, apologised and is delivering a new tree later.

Google St Peters ChurchGoogle
Sudbury's Christmas tree will be outside St Peter's Church for the first time in the town's history

Mrs Budd, assistant to the town clerk, said the damage to the tree, as reported in the East Anglian Daily Times, was so bad there was "no way" they could cover it up with Christmas lights.

"It looked as if it had been through a hurricane," she said.

The town council had proposed increasing tax to create a more prominent location for its tree, away from its existing Old Market Place location.

Guy Warren, forestry and conservation manager at Elveden Farms, said: "I was extremely disappointed to hear that the original tree we delivered did not meet with our client's satisfaction."

The estate in Suffolk has supplied Sudbury's trees for more than 15 years.

The new tree will be decorated ready for the Christmas Fair & Light Switch-On on Friday evening.