A petrol station provider sparked confusion with employees in Southampton as it appeared as though they would not be allowed to put up Christmas decorations this year.

BP baffled staff when they said that stations would be forbidden to put up Christmas decorations in a weekly conference call.

Shocked employees believed they would not have any sort of celebrations in store whatsoever and that the decision had come from senior management.

But after contacting BP - who operate four stations in Southampton and two at Rownhams service station - the Echo now understands that employees are not allowed to bring in their own decorations from home.

Instead, stores will be decorated in similar ways in a uninformative fashion.

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This is because store-bought decorations could pose a fire risk or tripping hazard and have been ruled out on health and safety grounds.

A BP employee who works at a station in Southampton and asked to stay anonymous said that these reasons were not explained during the conference call.

BP say that store-bought decorations could pose fire risks or trip hazards.BP say that store-bought decorations could pose fire risks or trip hazards. (Image: Newsquest) He said: "It came across like there would be no decorations whatsoever.

“I’m not going to cry over not being allowed to pull a tree up but you’d expect to be able to have some bits of tinsel at the very least.

"Nothing says Christmas like copying every other station."

The worker said that they feel the decision is more "justified" now with this reason, but that it should not have taken the Echo's involvement to have a simple answer communicated.

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A spokesperson from BP said: “We encourage colleagues at bp stores to celebrate a range of seasonal holidays, including Christmas.

"For safety reasons, however, we ask employees not to dress stores with their own or store-bought decorations.

"We do centrally provide decorations and guidance to ensure our stores have a consistent look and feel alongside our extensive festive range of products and offers.

"We also provide uniform flexibility so colleagues can wear Christmas jumpers throughout December to celebrate in their own personal style if they wish.”