JUST six months after it was first lit up by a £35,000 illuminated treetop extravaganza, the lights are going out along The Avenue in Minehead.

And there are now fears that Easter visitors could miss out on one of the town’s brightest tourist features.

Nearly 180 glowing globe-shaped lights were strung along The Avenue’s 26 trees last July to create a touch of magic from dusk to midnight, bringing a year-round glow to the town.

But now only 20 globes on four trees remain lit and Minehead Chamber of Trade, which owns and maintains the display, is at a loss to know what has gone wrong – or who is responsible for putting it right.

“I’m pulling my hair out and having sleepless nights about what has happened,” said Graham Sizer of Minehead Chamber of Trade, one of the instigators of the scheme.

He said things started going wrong last October when lights fed from six lamp posts unaccountably failed. Since then, there has been a growing blackout, variously blamed on the wet weather, power surges and a mismatch of electrical components.

“We just can’t get to the bottom of the trouble,” Mr Sizer said.