A survey carried out this week show huge variations in the amount council's are shelling out on decorations this festive season.

Top of the pile was Horsham District Council which has earmarked £69,000 to spend on lights. This figure dwarfs the £12,000 provided by the Council here in Hastings.

Hastings Borough Council is one of many in Sussex which agrees to match cash raised by local businesses which benefit from the increased interest in late-night shopping.

It also benefits from a number of groups which provide additional lighting and decorations throughout December.

For example, the local Rotary Club and Priory Meadow shopping centre provide lights and trees in the town centre.

A council spokesman said: "We have a pot of £12,000 which is split between the main shopping areas of Hastings and St Leonards and the arrangement that we have is that traders match fund the amounts we offer.

"We are fortunate that for Hastings town centre the Rotary Club and Priory Meadow provide decorations, trees and lighting.

"This year in Kings Road, we're holding a shop Christmas lighting competition and look forward to seeing St Leonards lit up for the Christmas market on December 6 and late night shopping on December 19.

"I know that we are also looking at how we can support more Christmas trees in St Leonards as well."

Whether these Christmas trees will, like in previous years, only be partially kitted out with decorations remains to be seen. In previous years the Council has been forced to only put up lights and decorations which are high enough to be out of reach of local thieves.

Things could be worse though. The council in nearby Eastbourne has only managed to scrape together a measly £7,000 and Christmas in Bexhill seems to have been officially cancelled.

Council bosses in Rother decided to drop the term Christmas from their celebrations and will be putting up "festive lights" instead.

Should the Council be spending more on lights or are they right to keep the cost down considering the credit crunch? Leave your comments below.