A "MEMORY TREE" has been erected at the Crediton Tesco Superstore for people to remember the ones that they will miss spending Christmas with this year.

The 10ft tree is situated at the front of the store, with the top half being decorated traditionally, and the bottom half left bare for people to add their own messages.

The stores manager, Simon Anbany said: "Christmas is a time for friends and family to come together and enjoy each others company. But there are always individuals that will be missed, people that have passed on that we all want to still keep a memory of.

"We thought that, with the great community spirit in and around the town that people would like an opportunity to keep those memories alive."

The tree will be situated in the store until Wednesday, December 6, when it will be taken down and re-erected as part of the popular Christmas Tree Festival held in Crediton Parish Church every year.

The store’s community champion, Andrew Drayton, said he was extremely grateful for the opportunity Tesco had been given to take part in the festival at such short notice.

He said: "We would love to thank the committee who run the Christmas Tree Festival for finding a way for us to join in with what is a well-loved and always popular Crediton event.

"When we approached the Parish Church I had no idea that it would be working so far in advance, but when we explained what it was that we wanted to do the church was brilliant in finding a way to include the idea in an already packed out display. As I said we are very very grateful for the opportunity."

The Memory Tree has already been very popular and the branches have started to fill with messages for lost loved ones but the store hopes that many more people will join in the celebration to provide something spectacular for the festival. 

Alan Quick