Council gets ready for Christmas

Rochdale Council has started putting up Christmas lights – almost three months ahead of the big day.

So far residents in Heywood have seen the festive lights appear on their streets and other areas of the town are set to see more lights fitted in the next few weeks.

The Council’s decision to put up Christmas lights early has been criticised in the past - but this year officials say the installation of the lights is happening now in conjunction with the replacement of street lighting and to ensure the lights are ready for the big switch on events in November.

John Patterson, Executive Director, Rochdale Borough Council said: “Like many councils, the installation of the majority of our Christmas lights begins in October, and runs until mid November, to ensure displays are ready for the big switch on events.

“We are currently undertaking a major project to replace old street lighting, and are installing the festive displays too, which is more cost effective than having separate crews working at the same time.”

Mr Patterson, added: “It takes around eight weeks to install the lights across the borough, and starting the installation any later requires additional street lighting engineers which would increase the cost.

“We also need to allow for any delays caused by inclement weather and time for testing. Lights will be starting to go up in many other towns across the country and Christmas stock is in most high street stores.”