Hard hats decorate tree at the Berney Arms, between Swaffham and Downham Market.

Finding that unique Christmas decoration to make your tree stand out from the crowd is never easy - but a West Norfolk pub seems to have cracked it.

There can't be another tree festooned with hard hats - of the builder's variety - and colour co-ordinated at that.

The Berney Arms in Barton Bendish, near Stoke Ferry, will be raising money for charity with their eye-catching Christmas decorations, which are securely tied to a tree in the pub garden.

Landlady Sue Hirst said the hats had been donated by local building companies RG Carter and Chalcroft Homes. They all have a number inside and tickets are being sold in the pub to raise money for the village's St Andrew's Church and the village hall.

'We like to do something just a bit different. Last year we decorated the tree with mugs - it looked really nice,' she said.

Prizes on offer in the hat raffle include a meal for four, with wine, at the pub and a �25 voucher.

'Last year we asked people to guess the number of mugs on the tree and customers were standing outside trying to count them. We decided to number the hats this year because they might be a bit easier to count,' said Mrs Hirst.