WHILE St Pancras International station appears to spend all year coming up with ideas for its centrepiece Christmas tree, the same can’t be said for sorry old Victoria.

In recent years sickly installations, effectively advertisements for M&Ms and then Haribo sweets, have sat on the concourse.

Maybe lots of people told them not to bother if the “trees” were going to be so ugly, as this year there is nothing there at all.

It is the station that Santa Claus forgot.

Harrington has written before about what a depressing place this terminus can be – although mainly because it smells of tubs of Wasabi takeaways.

The saving grace funnily enough is the Wetherspoons pub which offers a grand view of the busy commuters below. You can watch and take bets on which of the sprinting people will make their trains.

Even that, however, is closed for refurbish­ment over the festive period.

It all makes you think what a good job they have done up at St Pancras where, yes, the shops are too expensive for most of us – but the aura and atmosphere is warm and welcoming.