Who stole all the pumpkins from St Albans?

Shopping centre staff were left perplexed by the disappearance of a display of pumpkins this Halloween.

Christopher Place centre manager Catherine Morris saw seasonal pumpkin displays while holidaying in New York and thought the decoration could be recreated in St Albans.

She said the famous Times Square “was covered in lovely displays of pumpkins and flowers”, and asked her staff to emulate the design.

“We wanted to decorate and make the place look festive and fun. We wanted to place to look nice and were getting into the spirit of the season.”

But when Catherine came back to work, she found a solitary, broken pumpkin sitting by a shrub in the parade.

Joking, she said: “I thought my staff had not really grasped the feeling of the pumpkin display.”

In fact about 30 pumpkins had been placed around Olive trees in the parade on Saturday - in just one day all but three had been stolen, and by Monday only one remained.

She is asking what seedy person has pinched all the gourds.

Adding: “It’s such a shame. Why would anyone think it is acceptable to take them?”

Catherine laughed that she is sure The Maltings, another shopping centre in St Albans city centre, would not try to sabotage the festive decoration.

Christopher Place is near French Row, and has nearly 30 shops to browse.