Council officials in Llangefni have ordered town centre Christmas lights to be taken down over health and safety concerns.
The festive lights were erected for the big switch-on this week, but the council was contacted by the island authority asking for them to be removed claiming permission had not been granted for the lights to be put up over public highways.
The Town Mayor, Dylan Rees, said, "There has been a communication from the county council over the Christmas lights regarding requiring certain permissions for the lights to go up. With the switch on tonight our view was that they would not be coming down and that the event would go ahead as planned. We think this is the common sense approach as the lights are important to the people of Llangefni and our town centre. The town council meets on Monday and we will debate the communication before deciding what response to give and what action to take."
However, a spokesman for Anglesey County Council argued, "Anyone who wants to erect festive decorations in or above the highway must submit an application to the county council so that we can ensure public safety at all times. These guidelines are set by a national code of practice. Unfortunately, we recently discovered that new Christmas lights had been erected on the street lighting columns at Buckley Square and town hall car park in Llangefni. This is not permitted and as a result we have asked the town council to take these lights down."
They continued, "The county council has been actively promoting Christmas events and celebrations in towns on Anglesey, however we ultimately have a duty to ensure that visitors are able to enjoy these activities safely."
