A THIEF has been seen running off with a 7ft Christmas tree on his back.

Alison Edmondson, 32, of Dursley Road, Blackheath, could not believe her eyes when she looked out of her bedroom window to see her fir tree being taken away.

The mother-of-three had been woken by a scratching noise in the middle of the night.

She said: "I saw to my absolute amazement my fir tree being hoisted onto someone's shoulder. He legged it down the road. I was gobsmacked."

Neighbour Jack Hoy, 74, also spotted the tree thief.

He said: "My wife thought it was a fox. We then both saw it was a geezer going down the road with a Christmas tree on his back.

"We just couldn't stop laughing."