They are shelling out a total of £62,000 for the festive decorations on show in the town centre.

This is almost twice the budget of Crawley and dwarfs Eastbourne's pot of £7,000.

Horsham District Council's cabinet member for the local economy, Roger Paterson (Con, Pulborough and Coldwaltham), said: "This year the council is spending £62,000 on Horsham's Christmas lights.

"Horsham is renowned for its celebrated Christmas lights and we plan to attract lots of existing and new shoppers with this year's particularly wonderful display, plus many other new attractions such as snow machines in East Street.

"It is now more important than ever before that we support the local economy in every way we can, especially at this critical time of year for retailers when Christmas trading can make up much of the year's takings.

"For similar reasons we have just frozen car parking charges in Horsham for the year ahead too."

The district council gives a contribution towards Christmas lights for other towns and villages in the district.

Around the county, Eastbourne looks like a strong contender for the most thrifty of them all.

The council spent just £7,000 on its festive lights this year with an extra £7,000 coming out of traders' pockets.

What do you think about the lights? Add your comment.

Click on the link to watch a video of the lights.

Click here for a slideshow of the lights.

Join the debate about the former fireworks display that used to accompany to light switch-on.

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