Why Yorkshire town’s Christmas tree is still up

And other stories from the stranger side of life

A woman carrying a Christmas tree
(Image credit: Christof Stache/AFP via Getty Images)

A town in East Yorkshire still has its Christmas tree up because a wood pigeon lives in it. Although Beverley town council planned to take the tree down in January, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 states that it’s illegal to mobe, damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird while it’s in use or being built. “Six months on from the end of the festive period the tree is certainly looking worse for wear”, said Metro, and “its green needles have turned a rather unattractive shade of brown”.

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  Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.