The Highways Agency has been blasted by a community after it removed the village's only Christmas tree for safety reasons. Dobwalls residents erected and decorated the tree in the middle of Dobwalls roundabout on Sunday night, but by Monday morning it had mysteriously vanished. The agency, which has been dubbed 'Scrooge' by angry residents, confirmed it had been responsible for removing the tree at Twelvewoods.

'We are flabbergasted with the situation – it is Christmas time and we have been told this simple tree will affect visibility across the roundabout,' said the chairman of Dobwalls and Trewidland Parish Council, Derek Newton.

'We are all gutted.

'They must have someone called Scrooge on their staff list,' he added.

For more on this story see this week's Cornish Times.