FORESTERS have declared 2002 a vintage year for Christmas trees and hundreds are being chopped down for sale over the next three weeks.

About 700 of the six million trees sold in Britain every year are from Hamsterley, a 4,000-acre forest in County Durham, where wet and warm weather has produced a bumper crop.

The Forestry Commission is running a sales drive at Hamsterley Visitor Centre tomorrow, with conservationist Mike McDonnell in charge.

The environmental land management graduate is well placed to advise customers on their choice of freshly cut pines, spruces and firs.

He is working at Hamsterley while also helping to survey millions of trees there, and at Kielder, in Northumberland, where growth is monitored from planting through the first few years of life.

Hamsterley is considered one of the top places for Norway spruce, the traditional Christmas tree popularised by Prince Albert in Victorian times.

They are produced by careful pruning, which slows growth and creates a bushy, conical specimen.

Ranger Robin Lofthouse said: "It's certainly been a vintage year and there's plenty of good looking trees. Top growing weather and expert nurturing has paid dividends."

The sales office is open from 10am to 4pm until December 22. Father Christmas visits at weekends, when there is face-painting for children. For details, call (01388) 488312.