One Of The Few Times I Have Heard Of A Council Apologising,

the council in question, 

was Bradford Council, whose chainsaw happy contractors mistakenly felled the festive light decked fir, in Oakworth, West Yorkshire, back in November, the village’s Friends of Holden Park (FOHP) raised £600 to buy and £300 for a cherry picker to install lights on the tree, then had to pay to have them placed on another spruce in the same park as a replacement, I guess it is an easy mistake to make, trees to be felled are marked with red paint, it appears that the tree chopped down did not have the red paint on it like the tree at the rear of the picture that should have been chopped down, also the tree that was chopped down had £600 of festive lights on it and it was plugged into the mains electrical supply, and did the council apologise? er, no,

the council only apologised when they cut down the second tree to replace the first that also was decked with Christmas lights, above the mains electricity cable that connected the lights, and here it is, 

Phil Barker, Bradford Council's Assistant Director Sport and Culture, said:  "The Parks and Woodlands Service has supported the work of both the Friends of Holden Park and Oakworth Village Society to carry out improvements to the park.

"The tree works, carried out by contractors, were part of a scheme to improve the appearance of the area around the war memorial.  Unfortunately due to a breakdown in communication the contractors were not aware of the lights on this particular tree that had been identified for removal until work had commenced.

"We are sorry for this breakdown in communication and will replace the lights for future use.  We apologise for any distress this may have caused."

strange that the council workers did not see £600 of festive lights on either of the trees, note to council chainsaw workers, the next time you see a tree to chop down look for festive lights on it, if it has you might want to check with your boss before cutting it down.