A THRIFTY couple manage to create a spectacular Christmas lights display outside their home on a budget for 25 years running - by buying decorations in the summer.
Mick and Norma Gale spend two days each year transforming their garden into an amazing winter wonderland for Santa's Garden at their home in Christine Avenue, Rushwick, near Worcester.
The property is adorned with 10,000 lights, giant inflatable Santas, snowmen and reindeer which tower over visitors who come from as far as America, Japan and Canada.
The Crimbo-mad pair have raised more then £31,000 for charity opening their garden to the public since 1998 - spending little over a grand in the process.
Mick, 74, and Norma, 75, have been able to keep the eye-catching display running for so long despite soaring energy bills with a few savvy cost-cutting measures.
They spend just £50 a year on decorations which they purchase in the summer months when they are considerably cheaper and have recycled others for 20 years.
And thanks to a smart meter it only cost the couple £4 a night to light up Santa's Garden for the whole of December.
The pensioners have been opening up their home to strangers for 25 years and have been giving any donations to the Midlands Air Ambulance charity for 21 years.
Mr Gale said: "'I tend to go and buy decorations in the summer. They're all new but they can be cheaper when you buy them in the warmer months. We're good at making them last.
'We had a smart meter installed so I could check how much it was costing us.
"It was only £4 a day for the lights and pump, which worked out at £40 on top of the bill.
"When I started doing it, Christmas lights were just a bulb now they’re all LEDs.
"It doesn't really matter how much it costs as it's for a good cause but we have managed to keep prices down I think with a bit of forward planning."
They even provide a bubble and snow machine to create a Lapland-style effect for families to get pictures with at their semi-detached property.
Former construction worker Mr Gale, says it would originally take several weekends to put up over 10,000 lights but he can do it in two days now he’s retired.
Santa's Garden is opens until Wednesday, December 27 between 5.30pm and 9.30pm each night.
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