15 year old boy charged after town's Christmas tree felled hours before lights switch-on

The teenager will appear in court charged with criminal damage of the vandalised tree

(Pete Tobit/Twitter)

A 15-year-old boy has been charged after a town’s Christmas tree was cut down hours before its festive lights switch-on.

The boy was charged with criminal damage of the vandalised tree, which was felled early on Sunday morning in Rochford, Essex.

Essex Police said the teenager would appear at Southend Youth Court on 17 December.

Local people helped restore the tree – and the lights attached to it – by 10am on Sunday after the chair of the district council, Heather Glynn, put out an appeal on Twitter. The Christmas lights switch-on went ahead as planned on Sunday afternoon.

Ms Glynn told the BBC at the time: "Thanks to an amazing community spirit, and acts kindness from some truly wonderful people, the tree is back up.

"Fortunately the lighting event was not until the afternoon and people were determined not to let the vandals beat them.”