SOME may consider it vandalism at its woolliest but the latest craze of “yarn bombing” is proving to be a big hit in one Wirral village.

Many people living and passing through Greasby may have noticed the tree-mendous transformation from the ordinarily brown tree trunks into an array of multi-coloured wool - knitted and crocheted into beautiful patterned “jumpers” as part of National Tree Week.

Considered a non-permanent and environmentally friendly form of “graffiti”, the yarn bomb craze has taken the UK by storm in recent months in an attempt to bring colour to its town and villages.

Greasby is no different, with close to a dozen trees now decked in glorious woollen clothes.

The so-called “Greasby Yarnbomber” is the brainchild of Janet Thorning –a member of the Greasby Yarns group - who was inspired to start the “Knit for Greasby” project after a trip to Port Sunlight in the summer.

“The Port Sunlight knitters had done it on the trees around the museum, I asked about it and they said it was fun and to just go for it – so I did,” explained Janet.

After placing posters around Greasby and asking Wirral Council if it would be ok, Janet began her task of recruiting would-be-yarnbombers.

She said: “We had about 50 main contributors but there was also a collection at the library for materials so people put things in anonymously – the response surpassed my expectations.”

There are currently 10 trees donning their woolly jumpers in Greasby, with more due to undergo the makeover later this week.

Janet said: “On the first day there was a lot of really positive feedback from people. With all of the stuff going on with the fire station in Greasby and the library hours being cut, people need something to smile about.

“It’s National Tree Week at the end of November too so that seemed to be the right time to do it to raise people’s awareness of how many lovely trees we have in Greasby.

 “We have got a lot of talented people who can knit and crochet out there – we even had a five-year-old girl learn to knit so she could make a square and our oldest contributor is 97 and housebound.

“The hard work of all the people who have contributed has been remarkable”

As well as adding more jumpers to Greasby’s trees, Janet and her knitting “posse” will also be adding commemorative poppies, knitted paper chains, bunting and a certain amount of wildlife to perch in the trees.

She added: “It’s going to be a challenge putting the beasties up securely but it’s going to be such fun for the children in particular, spotting the animals around the village.

“We just want to make people smile - it’s a bit of good old fashioned fun.”