AN AREA of East Barnet blighted by gas outages last Christmas is to benefit from a Christmas tree donated by National Grid.

Hundreds of homes suffered in freezing weather for almost a fortnight last year after water seeping into gas pipes caused them to fail.

As part of a compensation package the company promised to make donations to community projects.

Councillor Robert Rams, who represents the area, said he came up with the idea to get the tree at East Barnet Methodist Church in Brookside as a way to bring the community together a year after the original problems.

He said: “I had to push hard for them to donate it, but hopefully it will be a nice focal point for the community as we don't usually have a tree here.

“They promised to do things to contribute to the community given everything that happened last year, so this seemed like a fitting thing.”

To celebrate there is a community carol service around the tree this Sunday, December 12, from 6pm.