A £6,000 grant is set to help secure the future of the Barnard Castle Christmas lights.

The Teesdale Area Action Partnership (TAP) voted in favour of the project to light up the Market Cross at their latest meeting on March 11.

The grant, which still has to be approved through an independent technical appraisal, will contribute towards the total £11,614 Barnard Castle Town Council have been quoted for the work which involves installing permanent lights to four lampposts surrounding the landmark.

The LED lights would also be able to change colour for different events throughout the year.

Residents have campaigned to get the lights installed for several years with town councillors criticising the county council for not being able to make a decision to get them installed by last Christmas.

The public have since been invited to set up a working group to take control of the town’s festive display following a special meeting held by the town council last month.

On hearing the news, Barnard Castle Town Councillor, Thom Robinson, said: “After years of having a complete saga over a relatively simple thing such as putting up Christmas lights, it’s really good for the people of the town to finally see a bit of progress on this and I look forward to seeing it lit up, not just for the Christmas period but for the whole year round.

“The Market Cross has always deserved more from the council so this is a definite move in the right direction.”

He added: “It seems to be expensive but it’s a long-term, sustainable plan that will actually be very cost effective to do as opposed to going up and putting lights on it every year then having to take them down again.

“It’s great to see a bit of support from TAP – it’s an incredible building.”

Town Clerk, Michael King, said the town council was delighted with the news and would now be pushing forward with the project.

“The town council is delighted that this decision provides the opportunity to progress,” he said.

“We are still subject to the detail agreed with the funding team but the decision by the board is a really positive step forwards.

“The practical thing for us going forward is that we will refresh the quotations we have got for the equipment and work with the county council to get an order in because they are actually in charge of how it’s done but we can push forward to see that it’s done.”