THE switch-on of Burnley's Christmas lights on November 25 promises to be an explosive affair when it is accompanied by a firework display.

Town centre manager Lisa Durkin announced plans for the display and an additional 2,000 Christmas lights in the town centre after learning there was money to spare in her budget.

She said: "It's going to be a fantastic, fun-packed evening, possibly the best switch-on event ever. The white Christmas lights on the trees on St James Street are a real bonus which gives the town an extra 2,000 lights for the millennium.

"I'm thrilled that we are able to add a fantastic firework display, which will really finish off a spectacular evening, with the big stars of the night definitely being Chuckie and Angelica." The larger-than-life versions of the Rugrats cartoon characters will light up the town at 6.45pm following the Christmas procession at 6pm, which starts at the Inn on the Wharf, travels down Manchester Road and Hammerton Street and ends outside Boots in St James Street.

At 6.50, pupils from Casterton Primary School, Healey Wood Infants, Ivy Bank High School and Walshaw High School perform in a Schools Christmas Carol Showcase before the Rugrats appear for a final appearance at 7.10.

Children can visit Santa's Grotto, on the balcony of the Market Square, run by Burnley Youth Theatre. It will be free of charge on Thursdays between 5.30 and 8.30pm, and Saturdays from 10am to 3.30pm.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.