Rising Christmas lighting costs are proving a driving force behind moves to set up parish councils in North Kirklees.

Spenborough Chamber of Trade and Commerce members are to look into launching a parish council for Cleckheaton - to relieve themselves of responsibility for putting on the town's festive light show.

And in nearby Birstall, parish council campaigners say they would want a new council to run their lights if they manage to set one up.

Alan Fothergill, treasurer of the Spenborough chamber, said: "Our main financial problem each year is the lights. They take up a lot of time and money.

"But, because a parish council would be able to raise money from the rates, it could take the responsibility for them from us."

Cleckheaton's chamber of trade inherited the town's Christmas lights when the Spenborough Urban District Council was abolished in 1974.

Kirklees Council pays for two-thirds of the installation and maintenance costs but the chamber needs to spend around £15,000 to replace cabling and brackets.

Mr Fothergill said: "The town needs the lights and the public like them but we are struggling to keep up with maintenance. There are other things we would like to spend our money on."

In Birstall, members of the Birstall Community Improve-ment Group, who have already started rallying public support for their own parish council, spent the whole of last year collecting the £2,500 needed to cover lighting costs.

So far the group has collected nearly half the 1,000 signatures it needs to apply for a parish council.

An earlier application was knocked back when Kirklees discovered some of the people supporting the bid had since moved out of the village.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.