MORE than £80,000 has been spent lighting up the town centre for Christmas this year, it has been revealed.

A total of £83,189 has been used on the Christmas lights in the town – though the majority is funded from businesses via service charges.

This figure does not include the lights at the Alhambra, which came at a cost of almost £39,000.

Coun Robin Franklin, cabinet spokesperson for regeneration and culture, said: “We’re delighted with the Christmas light displays in Barnsley once again this year.

“Our residents deserve the best, and we hope visitors from across Barnsley, and from outside the borough, are enjoying seeing the festive spectacle of our beautiful town centre.

“Only a small proportion of the cost of our town centre Christmas lights is funded from council finances.

“The total cost this year is £83,189 and two thirds of this is covered by businesses who pay a service charge.

“The Alhambra Christmas lights are a separate contract.

“The full cost of these, which is £39,862 this year, is funded through the service charge paid by the tenants of the Alhambra at no cost to council taxpayers.

“We continue to see visitors flock to Barnsley, especially for our events including the fantastic recent Bright Nights weekend, and we’re on track to hit annual footfall of 7.7m.”