A friendly festive feud turned into a hair-raising ordeal for one house-proud villager, who was left stranded 30ft in the air, write Richard Abbott

and Stephen Deal.

While most people are content just to hang baubles on a Christmas tree, Anthony Tagliaferro, of West End, Launton, near Bicester, gets into the seasonal spirit by trying to put up the biggest, brightest and brashest decorations in the village.

But this year he realised he had gone too far when an industrial crane he borrowed to put up lights, jammed - leaving him shivering above the rooftops.

Instead of outshining his neighbours, a red-faced Anthony was left feeling a right Christmas pudding. He had to wait two hours in gale-force winds while friends and neighbours stood around and laughed. He was eventually rescued after his wife, Nina, 34, heard his shouting and called the crane-hire firm in Yarnton, 20 miles away. She said: "It all stems from a friendly feud we are having with neighbours about who can have the most tacky-looking decorations in the village.

"This year, Anthony had decided to go for it big-time with multi-coloured bulbs around the house.

"When I saw him stuck in the basket I had to laugh. My mother stood below him and told him to jump and she would catch him." Anthony said: "I was there for 30 minutes before anyone even knew I was stuck. There were gale-force winds and people kept waving at me without realising I was in a spot of bother.

"I am still getting a bit of a ribbing, but I will be going for it again next year."

Story date: Monday 06 December

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.