‘What happened to my £6,000 investment in Christmas trees?’

Carbon credits, storage pods, car parking spaces in Dubai – and now Christmas tree seedlings join the ever-growing list of dud investments flogged to ordinary people who are left nursing heavy losses.

It is feared that more than 100 people who bought 277,000 seedlings for Nordmann fir non-drop Christmas trees in 2014 and 2015 may have lost investments totalling more than £3m.

EverGreen Solutions, which operated the scheme, suggested in its marketing material that £3,000 invested in 250 seedlings would yield £12,000 once the trees were grown and sold eight years later – a 300pc return.

EverGreen said the “opportunity” was protected by “guaranteed buy‑back contracts” that ensured the trees would...