IN a bid to save money and make Sudbury look more festive during the Christmas period, the town council is considering hiring lights.

At a recent leisure and environment meeting, town clerk Sue Brotherwood said although the council already had its own set of lights, they were difficult to store and it could work out cheaper in the long run if they hired the decorations from a reputable company.

The move, she said, would also give the town the flexibility to put up different light combinations each year which would vary the seasonal displays.

She said: “The problem we have encountered is that we don’t have anywhere suitable to keep the lights, which means that we often get breakages.

“The contract we have with the company that puts up the lights for us runs out at the end of this year, so rather than putting the job out to tender, it seems like a good time to try hiring the lights.

“As it would cost less, we would either save money or be able to put up more lights.”

The council has agreed to the idea on a trial basis and if it works, they could sell their own set of lights.

One of the committee members, Sue Ayres, agreed with the scheme, adding: “There are parts of the town that don’t look at all festive so it would be great if we could hire enough lights to decorate duller areas like the trees outside St Gregory’s Church.”

Plans are also afoot to make this year’s Christmas lights switch-on more spectacular.

Mrs Brotherwood added: “Last year we were criticised for not having enough for teenage children to do at the event so Tesco has kindly donated �2,500 which we will use to pay for a big skating rink to be set up on Market Hill. We will also have a snow machine.”