Huge charity Christmas lights display at Greyhound Close axed

The annual winter wonderland in a Hedge End cul-de-sac formed seasonal delight for hundreds of families gathering to catch a glimpse hundreds of brightly lit decorations and lights on houses and across gardens.

Now residents behind the spectacle in Greyhound Close have announced they are pulling the plug on this year’s festivities.

It is the latest twist in a row with council chiefs over increased traffic and damage to grass verges caused by thousands of visitors gathering at the site and comes just weeks after a solution seemed to have been found when councillors agreed a funding package to ease traffic woes.

As reported in the Echo the annual display has raised £40,000 for good causes since residents in the properties in the close began decorating their homes.

But what started out as a bit of fun has escalated to large numbers of people visiting the site prompting soaring complaints from those living nearby.

Eastleigh Borough Council had pledged to spend £1,400 on traffic calming measures including signs and highway restrictions to ease traffic and curb illegal parking in the area.

But it wanted the close’s residents themselves to pay towards future damage and voluntary marshal the display.

It is held on private land and authorities said they have no actual powers to prevent it.

Now the residents have released a joint online statement announcing their decision to cancel it this year.

Last year the council had to pay out £2,000 to repair verges and had suggested the group pays from its charity proceeds – which last year amounted to £18,000 raised for Naomi House children’s hospice in Sutton Scotney, near Winchester.

But a message published on the Greyhound Xmas Lights Facebook page reveals that costs of staging the display could rise to £19,500.

It said red tape was also hindering the event with residents told they require a recognised qualification to marshal it and that the council refused their offers to get another company to repair last year’s damage on insurance grounds.

The statement continues: “We had no desire to cause the ratepayers to spend money or inconvenience local residents. Due to the additional publicity we have now received we fear that the visitor volumes will only continue to increase, thus exacerbating the traffic problems and our safety concerns.

“Sadly in light of everything we have taken the decision to bring an end to the Greyhound Christmas lights and we are deeply sorry to say the enjoyment of many visitors during the festive season.”

They thanked families for their support, adding: “We know that this will disappoint many of you and we in turn will miss our chats with visitors and the enjoyment on children’s (including our own) faces and adult faces.”

Emma Stafford, 26, who regularly visits the lights with her two children, said: “I feel very sad. It’s such a shame because it has become a tradition and you can’t expect the residents to pay that much.”

No one from Eastleigh Borough Council was available for comment when the Echo went to press.