TOWN councillors in Minehead have already started thinking about next Christmas.

A five-year agreement to provide the town’s festive lighting displays came to an end in 2025.

Now, councillors have to quickly go out to tender to allow a new contract to be put in place in time for this year’s lights to be switched on at the end of November.

Town clerk Ben Parker said the new lighting contract would be for three years and placed a greater emphasis on Minehead’s Georgian character and its location within a conservation area.

Mr Parker said: “All proposed designs must therefore reflect this context.”

He said the council would supply baubles for the Christmas tree in Wellington Square, but the new contractor would be responsible for their installation and removal.

Mr Parker said: “Following discussion with St Andrew’s Church, lighting for two birch trees has been removed from the specification.

“Similarly, one-metre twinkling drops for the Wellington Square tree have been omitted, with only uplighting now proposed.”

He said uplighting could produce a strong visual effect when installed correctly and it would also reduce the cost of installation.

The tendering contractors would propose the most suitable and visually effective options using their technical expertise.

Mr Parker said councillors had previously decided not to continue installing small artificial Christmas trees above the front doors of town centre shops.

The trees were now at the end of their working life, and complications had arisen with shops providing electricity supplies for them.

The council has budgeted £25,000 to cover both the provision of Christmas lights and the community event at which they were officially switched on.

Councillors agreed to immediately look for tenders, with the quotes being brought back to their meeting in May for a decision on which contractor to appoint.