A POTENTIAL crisis was averted after Marlborough's Christmas tree was delivered just in the nick of time for the town's lights switch on last Friday.

Alarm bells were ringing for the town's Rotary Club last week after the Christmas tree, that usually arrives two days before the switch on, was not going to arrive as planned on November 16.

Instead, the Christmas tree producer Jade Cliff, who has donated trees for more than 10 years, said that the Dorset selection was too small and that a bigger one was being shipped over from Norway and was travelling across the North Sea.

However, Christmas was not cancelled after the 25ft tree was successfully installed last Thursday at 9pm thanks to the teamwork of Jade Cliff, the driver at TH White who brought the tree from the coast and Rotary Club members.

"After a very nerve-wracking couple of days, we can all breathe a huge sigh of relief. We had our fingers crossed that it would arrive on time and thankfully it did and everyone really pulled their finger out to get this sorted," said Geoff Oades, of the Rotary Club.

"Despite the commotion we have had over the year trying to get parking spaces sorted for the tree this year, we thought, "Is it going to fall at the final hurdle?"

"This year, for some reason, the trees on offer in Dorset did not grow as much so Jade Cliff said they would get one delivered from Norway, much to our surprise.

"To get a call on Tuesday night saying the tree was on a boat across the North Sea was quite a shock but they put in a huge shift to get it here on Thursday morning and we had it up and ready, thanks to TH White, at 9pm.

"Although it was a bit touch and go, it was very good of them to go to all that trouble to get a bigger tree for us. They did not have to do this as they donate it to us for free. They did a fantastic job and the tree is just perfect."

To add to the town's troubles, the High Street was plunged into darkness on Sunday evening after Storm Angus caused the Christmas lights fuses to trip.

However, on Monday morning, contractors headed to the High Street to fix the problem and within a few hours the lights were on again.

The lights, which were officially turned on last Friday, will be on every day from 2pm until 12am and then from 6am-8am.

n Lights switch-on: Pages 16-17