CHRISTMAS has come early for Wellington Town Council after it finally got someone to buy its supply of old and unwanted festive lights.

The council has been looking to get rid of its stock of unused Christmas lights and the necessity has increased after ID Verde, which stores the lights free of charge, said it would like its storage facilities freed-up for its own use.

Members of Wellington Town Council were delighted, therefore, to hear that a solution had been found and of an unlikely saviour.

Town clerk Kathryn Hemensley said in a report that following the council’s annual internal audit, the auditor inspected the ‘old and unused Christmas lights’ and had made an offer of £500 to buy them on behalf of Minehead Town Council where he works part-time.

“The Christmas lights have been written off the council’s insurance schedule as they are considered of no real value,” she said. “It is understood that previous attempts to sell or gift the lights have been unsuccessful.”

Councillors were pleased to hear that the lights had been sold.

Deputy Mayor Cllr Mark Lithgow, intimating that the deal with Minehead Town Council should be done immediately, said: “I see no reason why we are discussing this whatsoever.”

And Cllr Vivienne Stock-Williams added: “We tried to sell the lights on eBay and didn’t get a single offer.”