Pine tree near flooded Czech village voted European tree of the year

Winner beats stiff competition from Croatian gingko tree, Portuguese chestnut and English oak

A lonely pine tree believed by superstitious locals to act as sentinel over a flooded Czech village has been chosen as Europe's tree of the year, beating stiff competition from a Croatian gingko tree, a Portuguese chestnut and an English oak.

The Guardian of the Flooded Village has grown for 350 years on a rocky height near the village of Chudobin, said locally to play host to a devil that sat under it at night, playing the violin and warding off intruders - though in reality the eerie sounds are more likely to have come from the strong winds blowing over the valley.