A SECTION of Christmas lights will be taken down in Louth after the local council and a property owner failed to agree over a £4.30 electricity bill.
The running cost of the town's festive illuminations has traditionally been covered by owners of the buildings that the lights are attached to through a verbal agreement dating back decades.
However, last Christmas, Andy Howlett, from the community interest company that runs Louth Town Hall, asked Louth Town Council to put a formal agreement in place to outline who was responsible for paying the average £4.30 running costs for the string of bulbs connected to his building in Little Eastgate.
Now, Mr Howlett asked that this year's lights be removed unless his requests were met by November 30, so the town council has decided to take them down.
Councillor Trevor Morris was president of the Louth Chamber of Business when it raised £23,000 for the current Christmas decorations in 1999 – mainly through donations from members of the public and local shop owners.
He said: "I really don't understand where they are coming from. I had lights connected to my shop and I can honestly tell you there was no difference to the electricity bill.
"These lights attract people to the town and to the shops – they are for the people of Louth.
"I don't know how somebody could say it's not worth paying £4.30 to have an attraction like that outside your shop."
Councillor Andrew Leonard said: "I think it smacks of small-minded, pedantic penny-pinching.
"It is one string of lights and I think it's pathetic if somebody can't cough up £4.30."
Councillor Jill Makinson-Sanders added: "Everything has been done on the basis of a gentleman's agreement and everyone in the town has pulled together to make it work.
"The lights are low energy, they don't cost very much at all and they are on for five weeks."
Louth Town Council's clerk, Linda Blankley, stepped in to the debate to remind the councillors that a decision had to be made.
She said: "We need to get a formal agreement in place which covers everything they have asked for or the lights are taken down."
In response, the Mayor, Councillor David Wing, said: "If you give in to this man then everybody else will need an agreement.
"Take the lights down and let the rest of the people know that if they argue with us their lights will come down and their trade will come down."
A proposal to remove the stretch of lights was approved by a large majority.
It was also decided that a working group to look into the future running of the Christmas decorations will be set up at the start of 2014.
After the meeting, Mr Howlett said: "In this day and age you can't just put things up and take power without an agreement, if that's the case I'm just going to plug my phone charger into the town council building. Nobody bothered to tell me it was plugged into my building.
"People who have taken out a rental agreement or taken up residency at a shop after the hand shake agreement was taken with the chamber of commerce were not aware they were paying for the power for the lights.
"It doesn't matter whether it's 2p or £200 – they don't have the permission to use my electricity.
"All I'm asking for is an agreement which shows I am covered for liability and that there is a fair way to pay for it.
"I'm currently subsidising this building to keep it going for community use and I cannot afford any extra outgoings that I am not aware of."Follow us on Facebook and Twitter
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