AN extra £20,000 will be allocated to Christmas decorations that Christchurch “could be proud of”.

Christchurch Town Council have outlined plans for the festive season following calls to ramp up the town’s Christmas lights display.

An agreement has been reached which will see a new company supply the festive lights for the next four years, at an annual cost of nearly £18,000.

An additional £20,000 reserved from unspent funds will be used for this year’s ‘extra’ decorations, which could include tree wraps on the Quomps and additional lights in Bargates.

Read more: Christchurch Christmas lights to be ramped up by town council

Meanwhile, £10,000 from developer contributions has been allocated for the infrastructure related to the Christmas lights.

Lesley Dedman said: “Prior to this, we had the high street done and that was that. Christchurch’s electricity supply was not strong enough and it used to fail, and the lights used to go out.

“This Christmas there’s going to be a much better display and it’s going to go much further.

"This is something the town council is not only going for the residents, but it should also bring more people into the town.

“I think people will be really pleased with it.”

It is not yet clear when and how the lights will be revealed, but in a consultation held earlier this year, 90 per cent of residents reportedly shared support for a switch on event.

Read more: Lights on and large crowds at Christchurch Christmas Festival

A switch on event was due to be held in Christchurch last Christmas, but it was cancelled due to a “risk of high winds”. It was a post from Christchurch Chamber of Commerce that shared the sad news on the day of the event.

The year before, the switch on had been cancelled due to the pandemic.  

When Christchurch was able to celebrate the festive season, the Christmas switch-on would draw thousands of people to the town centre.

In 2018, the high street was taken over by a Christmas market, reindeer roamed in Saxon Square, and Santa's parade of light cascaded through the town centre, all before ITV Meridan's Fred Dinenage switched on the lights.