WILDLIFE officer Geoff Dobbins has worked his way to the top of the tree. Geoff, estates officer with Northumberland Wildlife Trust, has been busy felling conifers in a project to restore an ancient woodland.

Volunteers helping on the scheme at Briarwood Banks on the River Allen in Northumberland set up one of the smaller conifers as a Christmas tree in their woodland camp.

They brought decorations to give the tree a festive touch.

But one volunteer, Morris Selby from Monkseaton in Whitley Bay, went one better.

He carved and painted an image of Geoff, complete with ponytail and chainsaw, to take up the traditional fairy’s position on top of the tree.

Geoff said: “The volunteers decided to make our camp, where we use logs for seats, a bit more cheerful by having a Christmas tree which they decorated.

“But when Morris produced the image of me from his bag everyone had a good laugh and I certainly never expected to be part of Christmas tree decorations.”

The joke has also been shared by Geoff’s partner Sara and children Rowan, six, and Fin, three, at their home in Seaton Delaval.

The five-year project at 50-acre Briarwood Banks, opposite Plankey Mill, will see hundreds of conifers that were planted in the 1960s, cleared from the wood.

They are being replaced by native species ranging from downy birch to oak.

“An enormous number of volunteers are involved at the site,” said trust head of land management Duncan Hutt.

When Morris produced the image of me from his bag everyone had a good laugh

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