Trafalgar Square Christmas tree must cut its carbon footprint, says Oslo mayor

Anne Lindboe to look at travel plans of Norway’s annual gift to UK but insists tradition will not stop

It is a long-cherished Christmas tradition: a tree sent to London every December from Norway to thank Britain for its support during the second world war.

But felling a decades-old 20-metre (66ft) spruce in the woodlands near Oslo and transporting it by road and sea to Britain to light up Trafalgar Square, only for it to be turned into woodchip a month later, could hardly be described as environmentally friendly.