A FAMILY who spent weeks building a spectacular Christmas lights display for charity outside their Minehead home have raised a total of £2,295 from residents and visitors, one of the highest annual amounts in their 11 years of festive fund-raising.

The Grace family’s popular festive wonderland in Plover Close, off Seaward Way, has now produced more than £12,000 for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance.

Michael Grace said: “We cannot thank everybody enough for their generous donations.

“Every Christmas, we try to improve on the previous year and we hope that our next display, opening on November 28, will be even bigger and better.

“I get lots of help from my wife Beverley and four children and fit it all in with running my gardening and handyman business.

“It will be hard to beat the 2025 display, which had thousands of LED lights, which only cost about 60p an hour to run.

“Last year, we raised over £300 just on the day of the switch-on.”

The festive display, which featured Father Christmas, a massive raffle, falling snow, reindeer, and Christmas music, has become one of Minehead’s most popular Christmas attractions.

Mr Grace said: “It is a lot of planning and hard work.

“We are already busy with the next extravaganza.

“It has become part of our lives throughout the year.”

The Grace family first raised money for the air ambulance charity with their Christmas extravaganzas in 2014 while they were living in Alcombe.

Since moving to Plover Close, the displays have become more ambitious each year with hundreds of visitors thronging to the quiet residential area.

The family were supported by neighbours who also decorated their homes with spectacular Christmas lights.

One said: “It is a real community event and we all help to make it a really special time.”