THE ever-popular Lydbrook Christmas tree festival has had one of its best years on record.

People from near and far flocked to the village's church to see the display of 30 decorated trees that parishioners have been nurturing for the last six weeks. Since its launch in 2009, the festival has steadily grown with people from the Wyedean 'taking responsibility' of their tree and decorating it to reflect a particular theme.

Rev Nick Bromfield said: "The festival is a huge fundraiser for Lydbrook church as it needs between £30,000 and £40,000 to run each year – I would say that this year we are on track for £1,000. The event has been running for the last four years and has locked into people's minds and taken off as new people approach us to take part.

"The gloomy weather worked in our favour as the lights and tinsel looked even better and brighter. Our church was full to capacity and I was overwhelmed by the amount of work people had done in such a short space of time, it's good to see the end result of the hard work everybody puts in."