NORTON councillors will consider adding to the town’s Christmas lights.

The council contributes £2,500 a year to the festive display in Norton and Malton.

However, members felt the majority of the funding was diverted to Malton’s display leaving “second best” for Norton.

Deputy mayor Councillor Di Keal said: “I don’t feel we get the best of the lights, butjust those that are left over that they don’t want in Malton. On top of that last year the putting up of the lights was left to the very last minute with contractors still putting them up minutes before the switch on.”

Councillor Paul Farndale suggested approaching individual businesses, shops and houses to see if they would be prepared to put lights up. “The money we give was supposed to buy a couple of extra light display each year but we haven’t seen that materialise,” he said Councillor Jonathan Gray said the council needed to investigate what went wrong last year and how it could ensure it did not happen again.

“I do feel we should continue to have Christmas lights - ours might not be the best looking lights but they do brighten up the town and give people a feeling of the festive season,” he said.

Councillors agreed that they would continue to work with under the umbrella of the existing Malton and Norton Christmas lights committee but would investigate buying their own additional displays.