Lights beat power glitch

But help came from all sides to save the day. When Tomsetts shoe shop was plunged into darkness the neighbouring Vulcan Grill, where lights still blazed, volunteered to accommodate the band's sound system which until then was rigged up, along with cassette players providing backing music for children, at Tomsetts.

The power came back on just in time for the ceremony, but with fuses blown and time switches thrown out of sync there was still scope for disaster. Fortunately, the man responsible for installing the town's lights, David Lowe of Ultralight, a Surrey firm, was on hand and he went around correcting all the faults.

Heathfield town manager Mrs Yvonne Hutchinson was full of praise for those who stepped in to help. 'It was a great example of festive spirit at work,' she said.

Earlier there had been a hitch when the fun fair came to town expecting to be able to set up on part of the Co-op car park only to find cars occupying the space.

'Fortunately most of the spaces were occupied by traders and as soon as they realised the problem they came out and moved their cars. We were very grateful to the Co-op and to Rix and Kay for opening up their car parks to the fair,' said Mrs Hutchinson.

Cllr Rupert Simmons, head of education for the county, announced the switching on of the lights and the honour of flicking the switch fell to Mrs Nicky Oaks, a resident who uses an electric wheelchair.

Mayor Cllr Tony Trick cut a ribbon to open the latest section of improvements to the town centre and Desmond Gunner presented a county council cheque towards the tree planting which was part of the scheme.

Mrs Oaks was asked to turn on the lights in recognition of a grant for 94,000 received towards the improvements from the South East England Development Agency which enabled the work to incorporate access improvements for the disabled.

Mrs Hutchinson said a real community effort went into installing the lights. Ninety per cent of traders had contributed to the cost.

A new company to the town, Jarvis Technology, based at Napier House, Crown Technology Centre, sponsored the lights on three trees at the fire station and lights on the community tree at the Union Church were sponsored by the Heathfield Community Association.

'Almost everything that could go wrong did go wrong as we prepared to switch on the lights but a fantastic community spirit made the occasion a great success,' said Mrs Hutchinson.

So many people turned out for the event that they started spilling on to the road and the police had to stop the traffic to allow them to spread to the other side of the road, she added.

It was also very special to see children from Cross in Hand School walking with hands linked from the school into the High Street and singing carols.

Also taking part was the Heathfield Community College Soul Band, the town crier and Father Christmas, and some of the stalls from the Farmers' Market were on the street.