No, it’s not Christmas tree trimming, although will come soon enough.

The view in Little Italy the other day was much more Star Wars like.

Instead of sending someone to climb the long-dead tree, the operator sat comfortably in a cab at truck level, and sent up this multi-positional arm.

The claws grasped the tree trunk:

A lengthy chainsaw blade whipped out in an arc from under the claws, slicing through the tree in less than a second. Obi Wan should be jealous as it looked like serious competition to a light sabre.

In about an hour, the rest of the tree was gone, gone, gone:

It’s amazing how safe some old practices can be made when given some thought and inventiveness.