A TEACHER has endured an agonising build-up to the festive season after suffering a painful head-to-toe rash caused by a severe allergic reaction - to her Christmas tree.

Nicola Coleman, 36, bought the Norwood Spruce from Wyevale Garden Centre and touched it only twice, while carrying it from the car into her house and to place it in the tree stand.

But within hours itchy red hives had broken out all over her body and she had to take cold baths every couple of hours throughout the night to ease the pain.

Mrs Coleman, a divorcee, of Charfield, purchased the tree from the Nailsworth branch of Wyevale on Saturday, December 8 and her GP diagnosed her with a serious allergic reaction to it three days later when she was covered in the rash.

He prescribed her with strong steroid pills and told her to get the tree removed immediately.

Nearly two weeks on, although the rash has eased, she is still suffering with soreness and itchiness on her skin.

Mrs Coleman, who teaches at Abbotswood Primary School in Yate, said: "It was a dreadful nightmare. I haven't got sensitive skin and I've never had eczema so this happened completely out of the blue.

"It was the first time I have ever bought a Norwood Spruce tree. All I did was physically carry the tree into the house and hold it to go into the stand. My niece decorated it.

"Then the following evening as I was writing Christmas cards in the lounge I had an irritating itch on my back and on the Monday morning I had this rash on my stomach.

"I saw a doctor who said it was probably a virus and that it would go away by itself.

"But by 10pm that night I was absolutely covered in an angry, bright red rash which was by this point unbelievably itchy, and it was sore when I scratched it.

"Even though I was desperate, I went to bed after putting Calomine lotion all over, but I was up three or four times in the night to take cold baths to ease the pain.

"It was even worse the following morning, it was head to toe, and I could not cope with it any more so I sought a second opinion from a different GP.

"We talked through everything I had done since Saturday and the only thing I did different was get the tree and put it up in the lounge.

"That's when his eyes lit up and he diagnosed a severe allergic reaction to the Christmas tree."

Mrs Coleman, who suffers from asthma, said the itchiness had died down considerably since she had the tree removed last week but that she still had a rash.

But she cannot visit her twin sister, who lives in a neighbouring cul-de-sac, until the New Year because the tree was taken by her and is now the festive centrepiece in her front room.

Mrs Coleman has written a letter of complaint to Wyevale Garden Centre's head office and is awaiting a reply.

A spokesman for Allergy UK, the UK's leading medical charity dealing with allergies, said Mrs Coleman was probably allergic to the tree itself rather than any chemicals put on it.

He said allergies to Christmas trees were not common and being covered in a rash from head to toe was even rarer.

A Wyevale Garden Centre spokesman said: "We are obviously very sorry for this lady and the circumstances that gave her the rash.

"We can assure customers that the trees are not treated with any chemicals that are likely to produce that reaction."