CHRISTMAS is arriving early in one Wirral town as part of a campaign to improve its festive offering after it was deemed to have one of the worst Christmas trees in Britain.

There may be 253 days to go until the big day but Liscard shoppers will be in for a festive treat later this month when a 30ft Christmas tree, reindeer, snow and even Santa himself make an appearance.

The event – which takes place on Wednesday, April 29 – is part of a campaign launched by Danny McLeod, from Birkenhead-based Argyle Taxis.

In December, Liscard’s Christmas tree made it onto a list of the worst Christmas trees in Britain.

The town's festive display was given a spruce-up after residents set up a Facebook page complaining about the "depressing" tree.

The page, called Liscard Christmas Lights, showed the solitary tree - donated by nearby Primark - surrounded by a metal fence, secured in concrete blocks.

Despite £9,500 funding from Wallasey constituency committee adding a little extra “sparkle” to the tree, the display still made it onto BuzzFeed’s list of “The 13 Worst Christmas Trees in Britain”.

Coming in seventh place, BuzzFeed's new reporter Patrick Smith wrote: "It now has some fancy lights but the festive health-and-safety fence remains."

Danny, like many others, was saddened by the negative publicity, with it acting as a catalyst for him to do something positive for the town and the wider borough.

He said: “Argyle Taxis have been a major part of the Wallasey community for a long time, and as such we wanted to help by giving something back to the people of Wallasey, the people who have helped us become the company we are today.”

After approaching the manager of Cherry Tree Shopping Centre, Danny began making his plans to make Liscard sparkle in 2015, with this month’s “mock” Christmas hoping to attract donations from local businesses.

With the help of The Christmas Decorators – who specialise in decorating shopping centres and homes of the rich and famous – Danny will transform Liscard into a winter wonderland.

“We’re going to have reindeer, carol singers, Father Christmas and a 30ft Christmas tree – we’re hoping to have mulled wine too,” explained Danny.

“The big switch on is going to be at 7pm but we’re going to be meeting with local businesses earlier on to hopefully get some support from them.

“What the April 29 event is all about is to get local businesses involved and get them interested because without their financial support, we’re not going to get this done.

“We’ve got a round figure of £25,000 that we’re looking for but that’s the top end – we can do it for less but the £25,000 would allow us to have all the roads lit up and everything.

“From most businesses we’re looking for a donation of £150 to £200 but obviously for the bigger businesses we would expect more.”

Danny, who last year helped Wirral Council with their drink driving campaign, hopes seeing Christmas in April will shock people into action.

He said: “Everything will be down the next day before people go back to work.

“We’re trying to give people a bit of a shock while the memory of what Christmas was like last year is still in their minds.

“We’re going to say to people that if there’s a community, everyone puts their hand in their pocket and having a fantastic Christmas display will hopefully increase trade in the area if we can get people travelling into Liscard.

“I appreciate there’s not a huge amount of choice compared to Liverpool city centre but not everyone can travel over there and not everyone wants to.

“We want people to take their kids to see a nice Christmas tree and decorations and bring Christmas a little closer to home.”

For more information about the campaign, search for ‘Light Up Liscard’ on Facebook.