WHAT came first - the basket or the sign?

That's the conundrum facing Preston Borough Council at the moment as the town's hanging baskets came out for the summer sun.

But help is at hand - a new code of practice has been created to govern the hanging of street decorations from street lamps.

But Preston Borough Council has created a conundrum - what came first, the basket or the sign?

The council put secure brackets up in the winter for hanging baskets, and a road-sign for

The code applies to anyone wishing to hang seasonal decorations in public places, emphasising public safety and seeks to make sure that dangerous practices such as hanging electrical cables from lamps without support and unsafe wiring connections, are stopped. County Councillor Tim Ormrod, highways and transportation committee vice-chairman, welcomed the code.

He said a code has been needed for some time: "There have been a number of incidents where badly installed decorations have caused serious problems with the safety of our street lights.

"I want decorations to continue to light up the streets of Lancashire, but without these strict guidelines we would be putting the lives of the public at risk.

"We have balanced the seasonal demand to hang decorations with the very real need to guarantee public safety."

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