Calder Valley: Old Christmas trees used to cut flood risk

Rooted donates trees that are too big for people's homes to a local flood defence charity

Christmas trees which have grown too big for inside people's homes are being used to help cut the risk of flooding in two West Yorkshire towns.

Rooted in Calderdale sells the trees with their roots still intact, so they can be returned and re-planted after the festive season.

The trees are eventually donated to a charity which plants them on moorland above Todmorden and Hebden Bridge.

Both towns were hard-hit by severe flooding at Christmas 2015.

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Sara Tomkin, from Rooted, said: "It means we don't have any waste after Christmas."

Customers often returned each year for the same tree, she added.

Ms Tomkin said for customers who wanted to adopt a tree, she updated them throughout the year on how it was faring.

Sara Tomkin of Rooted said some families see their tree as a "family friend"

"I send them photos so they can see how it's growing, how it's performing," she said.

"Some families can have that as their family friend at Christmas. It is almost like adopting a tree and they can have the same tree over and over."

Once the trees get too big for domestic use, the firm then works with the Slow The Flow charity to give them a new lease of life.

"We plant these trees on the moorlands. They live on and form part of the next forest on a moorland somewhere."

About 2,700 homes in the Calder Valley were flooded on Boxing Day 2015 along with more than 4,400 businesses.

Millions of pounds has since been invested to make the area more resilient against future flooding.