Turnout at Lights may be falling

Early predictions suggest that numbers were down at the first night of this year's Walsall Illuminations, which has consultants working to try and boost its fortunes including looking at moving the event closer to Christmas.

Hundreds of children and their parents enjoyed the mild weather on Saturday for a glimpse of some of the new attractions.

But numbers have been dwindling in recent years and those attending this year's launch believe crowds were down on Saturday.Consultants have been brought in to look at a number of options to revive the event and give it a new lease of life and councillors have admitted they need to look at "radical" changes to the biggest light show outside of Blackpool.

These include moving the event to a date nearer to Christmas to capitalise on other festive attractions running in the town.

Walsall-born TV presenter Bob Warman flicked the switch on the lights on Saturday. They run until October 29. One of the most popular attractions was the £1million, 15-metre high Sratosphere, a ball of light with a number of moving images projected on to it.

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