TAVISTOCK's Christmas lights — a tradition which has struggled to attract finance for years — will no longer be provided by the town's chamber of commerce.

The group has repeatedly faced a shortfall in its lights' budget — last year the lights only went up after the town council granted the chamber £5,000 in advance.

The chamber had again applied to the council for more money this year — a request which sparked a recent meeting between the two groups.

Following the meeting, chamber chairman Nigel Eadie said: 'We were extremely grateful for the very full and frank discussion we had about the funding of the town's Christmas lights.

'In the light of that discussion, the chamber reluctantly acknowledged at its meeting on July 5, that, having regard to its current and projected financial position, it has reached a point where regrettably, it is no longer able to fund the lights from this point onwards.

'We are happy to assist in the transfer of this responsibility on all levels, but we simply cannot continue to attempt to manage a process which, from the chamber's perspective, is financially and practically unsustainable.

'We have therefore resolved that, as a matter of urgency, we will seek to find another organisation that is better placed to assume this important role.'

Cllr Anne Johnson, at last week's meeting of the town council's finance committee, said that over the years, the council had invested a substantial sum of money in the lights.

'Tavistock would look very sad without them,' she said.

Cllr Ashley Tossell said the lights were important for the 'feel good factor' in Tavistock during the festive period.

Cllr Brian Trew said: 'I would agree we need to have Christmas lights and if they have decided not to do them, we should do it ourselves.

Wayne Southall, the council's works superintendent, said his department could take on the lights project for this year, although the chamber only had limited practical information on their set up, and it was possible that the chamber's current electrical contractor would have to be involved.

In future years, the job could be re-tendered — savings of up to £2,000 could be possible on current costs, he said.

Cllr Philip Sanders said as the lights did not have to go up for another five months, he hoped savings could be made this year — but Mr Southall could not guarantee this, given the lack of information he had received so far.

Cllr Robin Pike proposed the town council take on the erection of the Christmas lights, for a three-year trial period.

The committee backed the recommendation — the decision was due to be ratified at the town council's meeting on Tuesday night.