Watford: Christmas lights will be switched off early on quieter nights

Last year, festive lights stayed on in Watford until the early hours

A town will be turning off its Christmas lights earlier in the evening due to the rising cost of energy.

Watford Business Improvement District (BID) said the Hertfordshire town's decorations will only stay on until the early hours on its busiest four days.

But on quieter evenings, they will be switched off earlier to "help reduce energy bills", a spokesman said.

The displays will also use LED bulbs which are cheaper to run, it said.

The festive display will first light up on 19 November

The display is mainly funded by an annual levy on all the eligible businesses and organisations in a defined area.

It said it had entered a three-year contract with its festive lights contractor last year, so the installation, maintenance and removal costs "remained a constant".

Last year, the lights stayed on until about 04:00 GMT every morning, so that they would be on when people came out of the clubs.

But as there are some nights when the town centre is not as busy, they will be reprogrammed to switch off earlier on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

"The Christmas lights in Watford town centre will be going ahead as planned, to bring some festive cheer to Watford residents, visitors and the people that work here," a BID spokeswoman said.

"All our displays use LED bulbs which are cheaper to run and use far less energy than traditional lighting, however we are going to turn off the lights earlier on quieter evenings to help reduce energy bills."

The festive display will first light up on the 19 November.

In 2021, Watford's Christmas lights were switched on by X-Factor winners Rak-Su who are from the town

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