Blackpool Illuminations: Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen to turn on lights

The TV star said the lights represented "something really special in the hearts of the British people"

Designer and TV star Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has stepped in to take charge of turning on Blackpool Illuminations, after comic Johnny Vegas had to pull out of the switch-on ceremony.

The Changing Rooms star will pull the switch at the end of a concert in Blackpool Tower Ballroom on Friday.

He said he was "thrilled" to be turning on the famous lights.

Organisers said Vegas had been forced to pull out of the event "due to unforeseen personal circumstances".

Llewelyn-Bowen, who has also created a stretch of Art Deco-style features for the illuminations, said they represented "something really special in the hearts of the British people".

"I am thrilled to be able to pull that famous switch in the magnificent Tower Ballroom," he added.

His appearance will be preceded by a concert, which will feature Blue, Tom Grennan, Mae Muller, Fuse ODG and Nina Nesbitt.

Llewelyn-Bowen has created a stretch of Art Deco-style features for the illuminations

The show will be streamed live to a global audience via the town's tourism body VisitBlackpool's site and broadcaster MTV's YouTube channel.

Blackpool Council leader Lynn Williams said Llewelyn-Bowen was "one of our greatest ambassadors".

"It is fitting that he should be pulling the switch in a year when he completely reimagined how the Golden Mile will look," she added.

The illuminations, which have been part of the town's autumn and winter festivities since the Victorian era, have once again been extended for two months.

A VisitBlackpool representative said the new section, which has been paid for using money from the government's Towns Fund, was "spellbinding, taking visitors on a colourful and evocative journey through the nostalgic era of the 1930s".