EVERY year many residents of the town make the pilgrimage to our ‘glorious’ town centre to witness the switching on of the Christmas lights.

However, it was only after watching this year’s celebrations that I considered the financial implications of the lights themselves. I soon discovered that the cost of these commodities is in the region of £22,000. So, I question my fellow Andoverians – is this really necessary?

Is it not the ambience of the night that attracts so many people to enjoy the live music, cheap booze and fireworks, rather than the dull, tasteless lights that have been almost identical for the last decade?

If this is the case I believe that we should cut back on our Christmas decor and donate the savings to charity.

It would make me much prouder to have an enjoyable evening that honours the lighting of the Christmas tree and to then spend the rest on people who really need it.

The £22,000 our council is happily wasting could provide 275 families in West African Ebola quarantines with hygiene kits. It could provide emergency aid to Syrian refugees. It could even provide fresh water to a poverty stricken African village.

Or a few months’ entertainment to some privileged first worlders...

Personally, to be able to show support to those in desperate need would bring me more joy than light bulbs ever could. And, is that not the true meaning of Christmas, to think of others before yourself ?

James Hardie, address supplied