DUNCAN BARKES Please, save us from festive tat this Christmas

Firstly, I find it staggering Littlehampton, Petworth and Bognor Regis can all organise and fund town-centre festive illuminations, yet the county town of West Sussex can’t. Or won’t.

Someone in the know informs me there are around 700 businesses, ranging from one-man bands to billion-pound internationals, based in the city of Chichester. It is hard to believe they cannot scrape together the cash to make the lights happen, while smaller, and less prosperous places can. Has Chichester lost its sense of community?

On the other hand, some of the letters that have appeared in this newspaper over the past few weeks on the subject seem to me to be ridiculously over-reactionary.

In such challenging economic times, it’s depressing to read certain correspondents claim they will shop elsewhere because of Chichester’s yuletide blackout. Such small-mindedness will only cause further suffering to local retailers, many of them the small independents that are already struggling, which in turn impacts on the local economy. Common sense with your mince pie, dear?

Speaking for myself, I can’t get hugely animated about the lack of luminosity. My biggest concern is an e-mail I received via my radio show, from a listener who plans to add more festive lights to the outside of his house this year to make up for the lack in the city centre.

Such people will use any excuse to force their dubious taste (or lack of it) on the rest of us.

There is nothing worse than seeing a house ruined with a ton of festive dressing. Hundreds of bulbs, inflatable snowmen and a Father Christmas that lights up can be summed up in one short word: tat.

I identified an increase in this worrying trend around five years ago and my position has not changed. Not only are such decorations naff, they gobble up valuable electricity, worry wildlife, distract motorists and potentially confuse low-flying aircraft.

Above all, it is a symptom of 21st century life, where people are so desperate for a little fling with fame they will do anything to get noticed. But these persistent show-offs insist on inflicting their common illuminations – far too OTT to simply ignore – on the rest of us.

Festive lights can be tasteful, but we will not get to see them in the centre of Chichester this winter. Instead, horror of horrors, it looks likely the ghastly fashion for bedecked houses will take their place. They are tawdry, tacky and nasty; I implore all fans of the grotty grotto look to confine their dodgy taste to behind their front doors.