AN ANCIENT walnut tree has brought a ray of sunshine to families in Heysham just weeks after they were left heartbroken.

Vandals snapped a number of young trees in the village, most of them planted in memory of children who had died.

But just days after the incident was reported in the Citizen, Dennis Mantle has come to the rescue with his walnut saplings.

Mr Mantle, of Lancaster, says the saplings were grown from walnuts that fell off a 250-year-old tree which grew on the village's Barrows.

The former Lancaster City Council employee says he collected the walnuts and planted them in his greenhouse just months before the tree was blown over and destroyed.

"I grew six young trees and gave five away to members of the community, but I kept one in my garden and have grown these young saplings from its walnuts," he told the Citizen.

"It is a Heysham tree and so its babies should grow in Heysham where they belong."

Angela Sykes, of Heysham in Bloom, says: "It has been a very happy ending to a sad saga and we are delighted that our trees can be replaced.

"My family, like lots of others, have been in the village since 1750 and the walnut tree that these saplings are from dates back to about that time. It is very fitting that our broken saplings shall be replaced by these young trees."

She says the young walnuts are too young to be planted on the plot opposite Barrows Lane for now and will be homed in the village's Glebe Garden.