Tenby could be facing a blacked out Christmas unless someone can be found to erect and maintain the town's festive lighting displays, Tenby Town Council warned this week.
The town's festive lights were bought at a cost of £30,000 through local fund-raising several years ago by a specially set up committee. They were later handed over to Tenby Town Council.
However, the lights are now showing signs of wear and tear, which resulted in several sets not working correctly last Christmas.
The council increased its lighting budget from £10,000 to £12,000 earlier in the year in the hope of replacing some of the bulbs and boxes, only to find, after going out to tender in March, that the budget would be used up in just erecting the lights if they accepted the only tender received.
As a result, the town council had re-tendered for the erection and maintenance of the lights in the hope that a firm would come forward with a more reasonable rate.
However, this too has proved unsuccessful.
"We are having great difficulty finding a suitably reasonable tender," said former Mayor, Clr. Mrs. Maureen Ward. "Unless we get this situation resolved in the next few weeks we may not have festive lights in the town this Christmas.
"We are facing a desperate situation," she continued. "All our attempts have so far failed and we were wondering if a group of local electricians would consider banding together to do the job."
Anyone who feels they might be able to assist the council is asked to contact Clr. Mrs. Ward via the town council offices on (01834) 842730.