Christmas tree with dead branches to be replaced

18 November 2025

Emma Wassin Yarm

News image — The tree on Yarm High Street is to be removed and replaced after people complained many of its branches were dead

BBC A close up of the middle section of the tree that does not have decorations. Many of its branches are green and healthy but some are brown and dead looking. — The tree on Yarm High Street is to be removed and replaced after people complained many of its branches were dead

A town's Christmas tree is to be replaced after complaints that lots of its branches were dead.

Decorations had already gone up on the tall tree with visible patches of brown, after it was put up on Yarm High Street outside the George and Dragon pub on Sunday.

However, dozens of comments on social media branded the tree a "waste of money and effort" and that it looked "disgraceful".

Stockton Borough Council said the tree had been put up in the dark when its condition could not be properly seen and that the decorations had been removed.

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One resident told BBC Look North: "It's not as splendid as it usually is, it's actually quite scruffy looking."

Another passerby said she had lived in Yarm for 50 years and it was "definitely the most pathetic that we have seen so far".

"Yeah, bless it," she laughed, as she looked on in pity.

A council spokesperson said a new tree would be installed "free of charge" by its suppliers on Wednesday.