Fury after £5,000 Christmas trees in Wordsley and Wall Heath are felled at Mayor of Dudley's request

But their hopes have been dashed after they discovered festive firs planted in both villages have been chopped down by council officers before they’ve had chance to sparkle at Christmas.

Kingswinford North and Wall Heath councillors Nicola Richards and Ed Lawrence have been left fuming at the loss of the trees which were funded by a grant of nearly £5,000 from Dudley Council’s community forum - awarded to cut down on the annual cost of buying and installing throw-away Christmas trees in each village.

And they say they're even more “disgusted” after discovering the evergreens were chopped down on the instruction of the Mayor of Dudley - Councillor Dave Tyler.

Cllr Richards said: "At no point have any other ward councillors in Wall Heath or Wordsley been consulted about this. It is a waste of community forum funding and a real shame, residents were so pleased with this common sense proposal to plant these trees and save council taxpayers' money, while maintaining Christmas decorations in our communities.”

She added: "The trees were only planted in 2016 and this year would have been ready to be decorated in each of the wards.”

Cllr Tyler, the borough’s first citizen for 2017/18, said the Wall Heath tree (pictured below) had died and was becoming "an object of ridicule" and he asked if it could be removed before it became "an internet sensation".

He told the News: "I never saw the Wordsley one but the Wall Heath one had just got tiny little green shoots - there was no way it was ever going to grow."

Russ Newey, of the council's Green Care team, is believed to have been of the opinion the Wall Heath tree was "clearly not going to make it" and he arranged for it and the Wordsley one to be felled.

Kingswinford and Wall Heath councillor Ed Lawrence admitted the "trees had been struggling" but he said he had been checking with the council and added: "I had been told they were alive and they needed a little more time.”

Wordsley councillor Matt Rogers, a tree surgeon, also believed the trees would bounce back and he said that after regular watering by himself they had begun to grow new shoots over the summer.

He said: "I am upset Cllr Tyler has taken it upon himself to get the trees cut down.

"The idea was to save the council money in the long term by growing real trees. This is unbelievable."

Cllr Rogers (pictured above with the remains of the Wordsley tree) said he had worked hard with fellow councillors and the council’s Green Care team to have permanent evergreens planted in Wordsley and Wall Heath to stop the council having to annually fork out £1,200 per tree each Christmas only to see the firs thrown out afterwards.

Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of the council, said the saga conjured up images of festive tale The Grinch and he branded cllr Tyler the "Mayor who stole Christmas".

But he told the News: "The thing I'm most upset about is not Dave Tyler - I'm disappointed with the officers who once again have ridden rough shod over elected members; they should have at least contacted the relevant ward members.

"With a bit of TLC the trees would have probably come back to full strength - it's disgusting.

"This was supposed to be a money-saving exercise to once and for all stop us having to spend thousands each year for trees that are there only for the duration of the Christmas period."

Councillor Karen Shakespeare, Dudley Council's cabinet member for environmental services, said the trees had "struggled to establish themselves during this spring and summer period" and she added: "Whilst there had been some regrowth the professional view was that they would never grow to become a tree of suitable quality."

She stressed both trees would be replaced with live ones and added: "For this year cut trees will be provided in their original locations in order to ensure there is provision for a dressed tree at both Wall Heath and Wordsley for Christmas.” 

What do you think? Was the council right to chop the trees down? Or should they have been left to see if they could be revived?