Council chiefs have hailed a successful first year of new Christmas lights in Honiton.

The lights were a joint project by Honiton and Exmouth town councils, and mainly funded by East Devon District Council (EDDC) and Devon County Council through their Parishes Together Fund, which contributed £36,700 of the £43,600 cost.

Funding in Honiton also came from the town council and chamber of commerce, and a Christmas tree was donated by Coombe Estates.

The Parishes Together money has been used to purchase, test and put up the lights and decorate and put up Christmas trees.

It will also fund the storage of the lights for a year.

The lights will be swapped between the towns to provide a fresh display each year.

District councillor Tom Wright, chairman of the Parishes Together Fund, said: “We were very pleased to be able to give some funding to this worthy project. I would like to say a big well done to Honiton and Exmouth town councils for working so hard to make this project happen!”

The Parishes Together Fund is a joint district and county council initiative in which the sum of £1.10 per elector - £1 from the county council and 10p from EDDC - in each parish is put into a central pot, to fund community projects.