Crosby Village is sparkling thanks to the installation of tens of thousands of new lights. Andrew Brown reports

New lights have been installed in the centre of Crosby Village adding illumination for shoppers and people in a night out.

Trees throughout the pedestrianised village area have been wrapped with lights while around 370 metres of festoon lighting now zigzag across the street. The work was commissioned by Sefton Council and was carried out by Sefton-based lighting company IllumiDex UK.

The firm made national headlines during January to March 2021 after lighting up both sides of the mile-long Lord Street shopping boulevard in Southport town centre. This was the biggest project of its kind in the UK.

The firm has also lit up other town and village centres and shopping centres, as well as providing outside lighting for people’s homes and gardens. It also installs Christmas decorations inside homes and businesses.

Illumidex UK director Steve Clayton said: “Crosby Village looks really, really nice and bright at night now. There are so many new lights along the street, it looks fantastic. It has really changed the mood of the area.

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“There had been some lights up there previously, but they had failed, and the area was looking pretty bleak. We spent some time stripping out the old lights before we installed the new ones. It took us seven nights to complete the work over a period of two weeks.

“It has been a really good project for us. With it being a pedestrianised area, it was much easier for us to move up and down the street, without any cars whizzing around. We just went straight up and down.

“The timers are set to come on at 8pm each night at the moment, but we will go back and alter them as the nights get darker. The new lights give the area a really warm image, it looks really good.

“There are lots of really good restaurants, cafes and bars in Crosby Village now. Lots of people were sitting outside while we were putting up the lights and commenting on how it was looking. The feedback we have had since the lights have been installed has been fantastic. It is a really pretty job, and looks really spectacular.”

Earlier this year, workers from the family-run firm installed 70,000 LED lights between Ainsdale Railway Station and the roundabout between Liverpool Road and Station Road in Ainsdale in Southport.

They are now preparing to put up the giant LED-lit Christmas tree and festive decorations throughout town centre. And they are also preparing to fulfil orders to install Christmas decorations, and lighting, at numerous local restaurants, bars, shops, hotels and homes.

Illumidex UK owners Steve and Jan Clayton have qualified and hands-on experience in producing bespoke large scale festive decorations and lighting schemes.