The UK is facing a shortage of real Christmas trees this year owing to new legislation that will push up red tape and import costs.
Photos: Salle Park Estate
UK. This new legislation has been introduced to protect British woodlands against the risk of pest and insect infestations that imports of plants can cause.
It is estimated that the new legislation will drive up the costs of large Christmas trees alone by around 200%.
The UK market is heavily reliant on Christmas tree imports, with trees worth £3 million imported last year, mostly from Denmark, Belgium and France.
This, combined with ongoing uncertainty over Brexit, is expected to have a huge impact on the availability of large trees for 2019 as costs continue to increase.
Reepham is fortunate in having a number of locally grown trees for sale in the district from the Salle Park Estate, garden centres and the Reepham Young Farmers’ Christmas tree stall at this year’s Festival of Light on Thursday 5 December.
Judy Holland
