The sensational Lord Street lights in Southport were highlighted on the ITV Granada Reports news.
A production crew was drawn to Southport by the new lighting, which was completed by Illumidex UK Ltd after being contracted to carry out the work by Southport Business Improvement District.
ITV Granada were also attracted to film after Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised the lighting in Parliament earlier this month, saying: “I am told that the boulevard of light on Lord Street rivals the Champs-Élysées itself.”
The Prime Minister has been invited to Southport to see the lights first hand.
During filming on Friday, ITV Granada Reports reporter Victoria Grimes carried out a live TV interview with Southport BID Chair Susannah Porter.
On the show, Granada Reports reporter Victoria Grimes said: “They have got all these new sparkling lights in the trees with 300,000 bulbs, 3,000 sets of lights, and when they stretch them all out they would actually stretch from Britain nearly as far as France.
“Which is interesting because it has been called in Parliament this week the Champs-Élysées of Great Britain!”
Southport BID Chair Susannah Porter said: “Boris Johnson was talking about our lights this week!
“He was talking about this being like the Champs-Élysées in Paris and what a beautiful new set of lights we have got. They have been paid for by the Southport Town Deal and by Southport BID.”
Victoria Grimes said: “It is really lovely to see Lord Street looking so so beautiful because it has been a really tough year for businesses everywhere but before that even Lord Street was struggling and looking like it had lost a lot of its big retailers and you are hoping now that these lights are going to bring more visitors to the town?”
Susannah Porter replied: “Yes absolutely. We lost BHS, we lost Beales, Debenhams and now Edinburgh Woollen Mill and they are all really bug units which we know are really hard to fill and retail is not coming back in that way so we are going to have to repurpose these units.
“So we have invested in these lights.
“Southport is a beautiful place to come and visit. It is Covid friendly and safe with big wide spaces. When the sun comes out everyone needs to come and see us in Southport!”
- For more details about Illumidex UK Ltd please visit: www.illumidex.co.uk or email: info@illumidex.co.uk or call: 01704220829 (landline) or 07979158404 (mobile).
