EXCITEMENT over Cockfield’s exceptional festive illuminations was dampened when thieves made off with some of the Christmas tree’s lights.
More than £100 of damage was caused to the lights on the centrepiece of the village’s display, a large tree gifted by Raby Estates.
Christine Watters, of the lights committee, paid tribute to their contractor Scott Elwood who came out at 6am on Friday, December 20, to replace the missing lights without charging for the call out.
Ms Watters said the thieves had also tampered with a junction box that supplies power to the tree, but nothing had been taken from it.
She said an additional expense would have to be spent to secure the box.
She said: “We have to raise between £6,000 and £7,000 a year to keep the display going.
“We have lean years and good years. This year has been a lean year, if it wasn’t for what we had before we might not have been able to replace the (stolen) lights.”
Tony Carter, also of the committee, said insurance alone costs £500 a year, but the stolen lights would not be covered because there is an excess of £250 on the insurance cover.
Despite the problem and a “lean” fundraising year, the committee has been able to add a new motif on the workingmen’s club, lights along the eaves of the doctors’ surgery and chemist’s shop, and several more trees in the village have been lit up
Mr Carter said: “People in the village are putting up their own stuff which complements what we do.”
He added that there had been a lot of compliments from people around the village about the display and others from outside have been known to have made a detour through Cockfield to take in the sight.
