It may look like a strong wind could blow it over, but a leaning tree in Pembroke is not going anywhere, its potential new owner said this week.

Gino Brangman said the festive-looking Norfolk Island pine, which sits on a plot of land owned by his uncle on Palmetto Road, was stable.

Mr Brangman, who is considering buying the land from his elderly relative, added: “Norfolk Island pines can get up to 50, 60, 70 feet. It’s been cut a number of times and if you look at the top, it’s still fairly thin.

“There is no way that is going to leverage the tree over. At this point, the only way it would be a safety hazard is if we were to get a very serious storm.”

Mr Brangman, a former landscaping foreman at the Department of Parks, said he was happy to accept an offer from the Government to trim the tree, which he estimated was about 40 years old.

He said: “The tree has been like this for a while. The roots are not going to come out of the ground. Norfolk Island pines are fairly flexible. My next-door neighbour has one even taller than this.

“In the recent high winds we had, the tree didn’t move. Right now, it is not a problem.”

A government spokeswoman said: “The Ministry of Public Works can confirm that it will be liaising with the landowner of the property and, in the interest of public safety, will seek to trim the over-hanging tree growth.”