A Christmas tree described as a half-dead "poor specimen" is being replaced on Yarm High Street.

Councillors welcomed the decision to take away the derided decoration after branding it an embarrassment to the town. Cllr Andrew Sherris had called it an "insult of a tree", commenting that it "will be dead before Christmas".

Fellow Yarm member Cllr John Coulson protested to council chiefs, saying: "Yarm's Christmas tree is absolutely pathetic. It's disgraceful. Brown branches more than green. The public are outraged, and rightly so in my opinion."

A spokesperson for Stockton Council said yesterday afternoon (November 18): "Following further inspections, we are now removing decorations from the tree in preparation for it to be taken away tomorrow (November 19) morning. Our suppliers wil

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