A symbol of hope has been bringing comfort to residents in Barepot and Seaton.

Seaton resident Jacqui Moon, 53, was walking her dogs by the Yearl a few years ago, when she noticed that a person had put a bauble on a fir tree. It came just after the floods and she thought it was a lovely idea.

Then she said that two days later the tree was full of decorations. She said: “It was lovely after what we had gone through and I thought the poor baubles are going to suffer if left out.”

So Jacqui collected them and has been redecorating the tree with them every year since, bringing pleasure to many and brightening up people’s days. She said she has now been given the name of “the bauble lady."

Jacqui said people added to the tree each year. Some left tributes and remembrance pieces to loved ones. “It is such a nice thing for the community,” she said.

She has received many thanks and positive comments on Facebook about the tree and people look forward to the decorations going up each year.

This year, Jacqui had the help of her grandson, six-year-old Lucas Moon, to decorate the tree. Jacqui said: “He thought it was a lovely tree than nana’s started and asked if he could take a bauble from our house and put one on. It was the first time he has seen the tree.”

The decorations have all been packed away for another year now, but this simple symbol has brought joy to many.