A HUGE tree-planting puppet represented Epping Forest in front of millions of viewers in the Lord Mayor's Show.

Staff and their families accompanied the forest's first float in the traditional yearly parade from Mansion House to the Royal Courts of Justice, watched by about 400,000 spectators.

An estimated television audience of 1.5 million also watched coverage of the parade on Saturday morning.

The specially-made vehicle featured a giant woodland-inspired puppet, operated by three puppeteers.

The parade also marked the launch of the Gifford Wood Appeal, named after the Lord Mayor Alderman Roger Gifford, which will fund the planting of trees in a recently-acquired 30-acre patch of land at Horseshoe Hill, Upshire.

  • For more information about the appeal, click here.