New Christmas lights go up early in Stourbridge after High Street was half left in darkness last year
Christmas sparkle has not only been saved in Stourbridge this year, it’s come early - with lights already installed on lamp posts more than two months before the big day.
As the festive season neared last year it emerged that the town’s traditional banner Christmas lights that had been strung up across the High Street year after year were no longer suitable or safe to use.
Ryemarket Shopping Centre manager Aaron Powell, chairman of Stourbridge BID (Business Improvement District), tried to work a Christmas miracle by sourcing a few smaller lamp post lights to ensure at least some of the town was lit up, but they were only installed in the main High Street, with Lower High Street left in darkness.
The situation left traders and visitors to the town disappointed, to be consoled only with promises that this year things would be put right.
Now, with a new BID manager in place since the summer, 22 new lights have now been bought and paid for with the new BID funding and they’ve already been installed on lamp posts across the town ahead of the festive season.
