Suppose you've bought a real Christmas tree, stuffed it in the back of the car with the top poking into the driving area, almost had an accident returning home, then lugged the damned thing into the house, unwrapped and decorated it, and swept up all the pine needles that fell off.

The last thing on your mind is how to get rid of it when it's time to put the decorations away for another year.

Luckily, you can rely on the cavalry, in the form of Wirral Hospice St John's staff and volunteers, to turn up next year and save the day.

From Friday 14th January, and for a busy few days afterwards, the hospice's Christmas Tree collection service will pick up used real trees from outside local people's homes and businesses.

A fleet of thirty large vans, many of which have been lent to the hospice, will be on the move. One person will take the wheel and navigate a pre-planned postcode route, while one or two crew members will pick up the tree from each address and load it onto the back of the van.

All volunteers will have gloves, a liberal supply of hand sanitiser and masks ready if they need to converse with a homeowner and, of course, everyone will be working outdoors.

The hospice tree collection makes a significant contribution to funding the hospice's specialist care and support services.

People make donations relating to the size of their tree - £7 up to 5ft, £8 if 6ft, £10 if 7ft, and £15 over 7ft - and then simply leave it in an accessible place outside their house or business.

Once each van is fully loaded with trees it is driven to various pre-arranged temporary 'drop-sites' around Wirral to offload for chipping, then it's back on the road.

The chipped trees have further recycled uses, maybe in biofuel, or even spread around at community farms and paddocks. Other small local charities receive around ten percent of the monies raised.

Every Wirral postcode area is eligible to register and people can book from now, until 11.59pm on Sunday 9th January.

Elaine Connell, Wirral Hospice St John's fundraising officer, says: "People from all over Wirral really get behind our Christmas tree collection campaign. We're extremely grateful to everyone who supports Wirral Hospice St John's, including all those who give up their valuable time and the use of their vehicles to help with the collections and, of course, all those people who make their generous donations for us to pick up their used real Christmas trees."

You can register your tree for collection by clicking or tapping here.

Or you can call 0151 343 0778.