THE Christmas spirit is alive and well in one East Lancs home – and nevermind the energy bill.

Tony Jenkinson and his wife Linda have covered their house and front garden with more than 50 different novelty decorations.

The couple, who have been married for more than 15 years, boast huge lights including a Father Christmas, a snowman, toadstools, penguins and a train at their home in Aspen Fold, Oswaldtwistle.

Mr Jenkinson, 62, said he covers his house in lights every year in memory of his father, Arthur Jenkinson, who died after a battle with cancer in 2001.

He said: “My dad always liked to have lights up and when he died we decided to put a few out.

“But over the years we started to get more and more and in the last decade its really taken off.

“We’ve got so many, we add one or two a year.”

The Asda worker has Marie Currie charity boxes outside his home and passers by who take pictures are encouraged to donate.

The charity provides care and support for people living with any terminal illness, and their families.

Mr Jenkinson said in recent years several of his neighbours have also taken part in the festivities and hung up their own decorations.

His lights take four days to put up and are connected safely using dry boxes and several sockets.

He said: “Everyone has got on board with it and the street looks fantastic.

“We’re used to people walking up to the house to take pictures now.

“We get taxi loads coming up, they come from Blackburn too.

“We raise between £900 and £1,000 a year doing this.”

Mr Jenkinson keeps the decorations tucked away in his attic and garage while they aren’t in use during the rest of the year.

Each ornament has to be carefully stacked in order to fit them all in.

He said: “We love the decorations and we will continue to do it. We’ve had some of them since we started. They last a long time.

“It doesn’t affect our electricity bill too much – we see it in the monthly bill but it’s not a massive change.”