STONE BRIG LANE, ROTHWELL, WEST YORKSHIRE

WHAT started out as a treat for three neighbours’ young children has become a mass annual display of community spirit and fun.

Seven years ago, Karen Brown, then a teaching assistant at the local primary, and her husband Chris, an account manager, were one of those families who decided to make Christmas extra- special for their children, Adam, then 11, and Hannah, then six.

‘It was a few lights and a tree,’ said Mrs Brown, 50. ‘ Then about five years ago we invited the whole street.

‘This is a long road — it takes five minutes to drive the entire length — and dozens of houses join in.’

She added: ‘We have an elderly gentleman neighbour whose wife passed away. She loved Christmas. This year, we asked if it was appropriate to carry on. He said it’s what she would have wanted, so we helped him put lights up outside his house.’