Keighley's Christmas lights will be bigger and better than ever this year.

The Town Centre Manage-ment Group has secured additional funding which will double the money it receives from Bradford council from £7,200 to £14,400. But town centre manager Sandra Parnham says businesses will still have to contribute towards the cost if the lights are to be a success.

"We now have a chance to make Keighley's Christmas lights how traders have always wanted them," she says. "But there will still be a shortfall at the end of the day which we will have to find."

The amount of the shortfall could be around £5,000.

Airedale Centre manager Mike Millbank says the extra funding is 'splendid news' for the town. "It is bound to attract more people," he says.

David Petyt, of David Petyt Menswear in Hanover Street, and management group chairman Barry Thorne say they hope traders will contribute.

Chairman of the town centre management group Councillor Barry Thorne, who presented Keighley's case to the council's transportation, planning and highways committee, says: 'They will be the biggest and most successful lights ever. It has got to be beneficial to shopkeepers because people will now feel they want to shop here.'

He added that additional lights will decorate the trees in town hall square and that he was now seeking a sponsor for these.

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