QUESTIONS have been asked about why Barnard Castle’s Christmas lights have failed safety tests or aren’t working properly just a few years after they were purchased.
Annual testing of the festive illuminations have revealed that a number of items are no longer working as they should. These include smaller displays such as the nativity scene which is usually put
up outside the Methodist Church.
However, the list also includes 65 LED Christmas trees that are given to shops to make the town more attractive. The equipment is owned by the town council but the displays are managed by the volunteer-led Barnard Castle Christmas Lights group.
Last week’s resources committee heard that the nativity set will be offered to the Methodist church, while the 65 trees will be given to shops to put up at “their own liability” . Cllr John Blissett said: “With the Christmas lights, none of them seem to last very long. Sixty-five? That sounds quite a lot.”
Cllr Sandra Moorhouse said: “I remember Roger [Peat] coming in with a sample only two or three years ago. It seems to me like an awful waste of money.”
Town clerk Michael King said they were bought five years ago. Cllr Blissett said icicle lights which hang along the street often need replacing each year.
However, Cllr Richard Child replied: “They are battered by harsh weather conditions and gales. We have had five Christmases.”
Cllr Laura Drew added: “If you add all that [time] together, it’s probably six months.”
