Councils cancel Christmas light switch-on events due to financial crisis

5 September 2022, 15:23

By Alice Dear

Guildford, Ely and Budleigh Salterton have already told locals the annual event will not take place this year.

Councils across the United Kingdom are cancelling Christmas light switch-on event amid the financial crisis.

This comes after it was announced that the latest energy cap would rise by 80 per cent.

Due to tight Government budgets and the cost of living crisis, councils are telling local residents that the festive event is not justifiable.

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Budleigh Salterton, in Devonshire, is one of the councils that has already announced the Christmas light switch-on will not be happening this year.

The council said that they "could not take on the cost of the lights in the economic climate".

The Guildford High Street Christmas light switch-on, which usually attracts 7,000 people every year, has also been cancelled.

The council pulled the plug on the event in August, saying that the cost of putting on the event safely would be too high at a time when it is "struggling financially".

The council leader, Joss Bigmore, added that the council "cannot afford or justify value for money for such an additional significant cost".

Over in Cambridgeshire, the Ely Christmas light switch-on has also been cancelled.

The council said that they could not justify spending the £9,000 they usually do on the event.

With rising energy bills, and Christmas approaching slowly, there is a chance other councils will follow in Guilford, Ely and Budleigh Salterton's footsteps when it comes to making cutbacks.

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