Christmas lights cancelled over safety fears

A town's Christmas lights have been cancelled after checks on fittings revealed safety concerns.

Windermere and Bowness Town Council in Cumbria took over the role of stringing up this year's lights after a volunteer group pulled out.

Nicola Hastie, who was one of the group's organisers, said the council had been warned that grant funding had not increased and it could no longer continue.

But Town Clerk Sally Parkyn said funding concerns had not been raised and, when the council took on the job, health and safety regulations made it "more complicated than we imagined".

Ms Hastie said she had "absolutely loved" helping to organise the Christmas lights event over the last 10 years, which also included a parade.

But she said the council's grant money for the parade, which involved fireworks as well as the switch-on ceremony, had not increased.

"Everything costs more now," she said. "It was not sustainable."

She said the group did not feel supported by the town council and had warned last year it would not be able to continue.

"It was a hard decision to make," she said.

She said the parade and the lights came as a "package", adding she hoped the lack of lights in December would make residents and the town council take the issue more seriously.

Mrs Parkyn disputed the claim volunteers had raised concerns about grant money.

After the group pulled out, which Mrs Parkyn said was only confirmed over the summer, she said the town council hired contractors to string up the lights.

But when anchor points were surveyed, which volunteers had previously used, they were found not to meet professional safety codes.

"If you're a volunteer you can probably do things in a way that you can't as a professional company," she said, adding there was not enough time to fix the problem by Christmas.

Mrs Parkyn said the town council would start to plan for 2025's lights in January and she was "100%" confident the Lake District town would be lit up next year.

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