A tree threatened with the chop was blessed by residents in a special ceremony.

Brighton and Hove City Council gave the historic elm in Vernon Terrace, Brighton, a two-week reprieve after protesters camped in it for three days.

The tree was to be felled as part of the revamp of Seven Dials junction.

With locals now drawing up ideas for an alternative, more than a dozen people gathered around the elm for an inter-faith humanist ceremony.

Among those present were ten-year-old Holly Dove and her nine-year-old brother Joshua who wrote a special blessing.

This was after they took food and drinks to the protesters last week.

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