People have spoken of their shock and sadness to see their town's Christmas tree being taken down and chopped up tonight (Thursday, December 21) after damage caused the high winds of Storm Pia.
Council officials reportedly decided to take down and remove the tree on health and safety grounds.
The centerpiece to the town's Christmas decorations was seen dangerously swaying in the wind during the day.
The area was coned off with wardens posted to keep people away from the 30ft tree.
Stockton council officials monitored the tree throughout the day.
One person took to social media to say: "It didn't look very good when I was in town. It was blowing and bending over more the other way. It looked as though it was going toward the NatWest Bank."
This evening at about 7pm a load loader with a crane was brought to the scene and the tree was lowered safely to the ground.
The lights and baubles were removed, before workers with chainsaws moved in to remove the branches and then cut the trunk into pieces.
Pictures: TERRY BLACKBURN
A worker at the scene said a split had been noticed in the tree and it was decided to bring it down and remove it on "health and safety" grounds.
Bystanders said: "It's really sad. This has never happened before. I don't thing they are going to replace it before Christmas.
"It's not going to be quite the same."
People walking past spoke of their shock. One said: "Why are they stripping it with a chainsaw?"
Pictures: TERRY BLACKBURN
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