'It's made his Christmas' – young boy replaces bauble taken down from the village tree

A four-year-old whose bauble was removed from the village Christmas tree in Datchet has been allowed to replace it in a small ceremony.

Dexter Clarke, who has autism, was delighted when his mother Emma allowed him to place a small bauble on the tree.

However, when she posted about this on the Facebook group Datchet Eye, the post was removed. Shortly afterwards, the bauble disappeared.

It is not clear who removed the bauble but Andrew Clemens, parish councillor and admin of Datchet Eye, took responsibility for removing the Facebook post and apologised.

“[The post] was taken down prematurely before fully appreciating the reasoning behind it. It was the wrong thing to do,” Mr Clemens wrote in the Datchet Eye Facebook page.

The parish council arranged for a new bauble to be placed on the tree in a small event on Wednesday. Deputy mayor Gary Muir and ward councillor David Cannon attended, alongside Mr Clemens and parish councillor Ian Thomspon.

“It’s made his Christmas,” said Emma. “The support has been amazing, and it raises awareness of autism and additional needs.”

Inspired by Dexter’s story, people on Facebook as far away as California decorated Christmas trees in his honour with ornaments reading 'Merry Christmas, Dexter!’