A COUPLE from Marston feared for their lives after their Christmas tree farm was set alight by vandals yesterday.

Chris and Jennifer Mitchell were sleeping in a caravan a few metres from the trees in the hope of protecting them from thieves.

But at 6.30am they were shocked to wake up to find 23 of trees piled up high and set on fire.

Mrs Mitchell said: “It’s really scary to wake to find smoke and flames around you.

“It was just like a nightmare and such a horrible thing to do around Christmas time – a time of giving and goodwill.

“It just seems cruel and completely unnecessary.”

Mrs Mitchell said her husband only woke up after he heard a loud noise in the early hours, which they believed to be the slamming of the farm gate.

She said: “Because we heard someone leave and the trees were piled up we’re sure the fire was set intentionally.

“Thank God my husband woke up because if it had been five or 10 minutes later I don’t think we would have made it out alive.”

Mrs Mitchell said there were only a few trees in between the caravan and the pile of burning trees.

She said: “Although we are devastated at losing our trees, we’re grateful it didn’t end up being a hell of a lot worse. We were so close by it could have been us and not just the trees.”

The couple were then able to jump out of the caravan and instantly put out the fire with water.

She said: “We got rid of the fire fairly quickly and stopped it from spreading to the caravan, which was a real relief and the only silver lining.”

Councillor for Marston Mick Haines said: “It’s such a terrible shame this kind of thing has happened. I can only hope it’s a one-off.”

According to Mrs Mitchell, Thames Valley Police is investigating the cause of the fire.