DON'T call us Scrooges -- that's the call from council chiefs in Bury, who have refused to foot a £7,000 bill to light up the town this Christmas.

Bury Council has decided to adopt a prudent approach to this year's festivities, after Ramsbottom Chamber of Trade wanted a £7,000 donation towards their Christmas light display.

But town chiefs in Bury say that to due to massive cuts in spending, they have had to tighten the purse strings.

Bury Council leader Cllr Derek Boden said: "In recent years we have had to face multi-million pound cuts in order to meet Government imposed spending limits. While we have done our best to protect vital and valued services, such as education, other funding has had to be slashed.

"Some years ago, we made it clear there was no longer money available to cover the cost of illuminations and decorations in any of our town centres at Christmas, and we have had to stick with that."

Members fear that if they offer financial support for Ramsbottom's Christmas lights, they will also have to fork out for other towns in the borough, which could run into tens of thousands of pounds.

Cllr Boden said that although Bury's financial situation this year has been considerably improved, he feared more cuts will have to be made next year.

Prudent

"There is hope that the situation will be improved, but we will not be able to confirm that for some time," he said. "It was felt, therefore, that the prudent position was to conserve resources, and that is why we have had to say no."

However, whilst ruling out financial backing, the council is still prepared to help traders with technical advice and assistance with the putting up and commissioning of lights.

"Christmas is a time of hope and optimism and the last thing we want to be perceived as is a Scrooge council," said Cllr Boden.

"However, we would be failing in our duty to the community generally, if we did not cut our cloth according to our means."

On a more positive note, he added: "It may be, although we cannot promise anything at this stage, that the council will be better placed to contribute financially next year, particularly since Christmas 1999 will be the last one of this Millennium."

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