Darwen’s “truly terrible” Christmas tree replaced after backlash

A much-mocked Christmas tree in a town centre has been replaced by a fuller, healthier-looking replacement.

The original tree in the centre of Darwen, Lancashire, left councillors red-faced after a sparse, worse-for-wear fir was installed in the market square.

The council joked on social media: “How many times have you ordered something, only for it to arrive and not be quite what you were expecting?”

Councillor Matt Jackson told BBC Radio Lancashire that a local resident first alerted him to the “sorry” tree, sending a picture with the caption “This is truly terrible”.

Now the council said teams had been busy putting the replacement tree in place ahead of Saturday’s Christmas lights switch-on.

The local authority said that it had already been told the new tree was “the best one ever”.