A CHILDREN’S home is lighting up its village this holiday season with its 20,000 Christmas lights,

Shelldene House in Friday Bridge is so bright it can currently be seen from the bypass and coaches are driving by just to catch a glimpse of it.

Kevin Ward, director of Shelldene House, said the light displays have become progressively more spectacular in the six years since the home, which looks after five children aged 11 to 16, opened.

He said: “At the beginning we noticed that there were not many lights in the village so the children got together to help us raise some money and over the years more and more lights have been put on.

“We hope we are bringing a bit of cheer to the children who live here and to the village as well.”

Mr Ward admits putting up thousands of lights is a challenging task which requires a lot of time and preparation.

He said: “We start putting the lights up at the end of October and are thankful to Quinto’s Crane Hire which provide a cherry picker to help us.”