Organisers of Bigglewade’s Christmas lights have denied rumours that they are behind schedule with the display.
New contractor Lamps & Tubes are providing the lights for this year’s decorations and work is due to start next week.
Previous organisers the Biggleswade Chamber of Trade have teamed up with Biggleswade Town Council to stage the lights, with the latter providing the funding.
The Chamber of Trade will continue to help with the organisation and will assist with fundraising.
Biggleswade Town Council clerk Rob McGregor said: “Lamps & Tubes are experienced contractors and also provide the Christmas lights for other towns.
“Work will start on putting up the lights and the Christmas tree early next week, so it can be completed comfortably in time for the switch-on on Friday, December 7.”
The display will look different to previous years and will improve in 2013 and 2014, Mr McGregor said.
He added: “There will be slightly fewer lights this year and fewer festoons but they will increase next year as we move into the second year of the three-year contract.”
Madeleine Russell, chairman of the council’s off-street car parking committee which organises the lights said: “The new lights are LEDs and will be quite different to what we have had before.
“We are actually spending more on them this year though there will be fewer of them, so they won’t stretch into Station Road and Hitchin Street as they have done previously.
“Biggleswade has effectively been using the same lights for the last 40 years and they were in need of replacing. Some of them were so old that we were finding it hard to find replacement parts.”
The special guests switching on the lights will be Natalie Soroko and Louis Clarke, who are playing Cinderella and Buttons respectively in the Bedford Pantomime Company’s production of Cinderella at Bedford Corn Exchange.
Lamps & Tubes will also be providing the Christmas lights in Sandy this year.