CHRISTMAS has come early to Holsworthy Chamber of Trade in the form of a £1,900 donation from Andigestion Ltd, owners of the town's biogas plant.

The significant donation means the Chamber of Trade are now able to pay the remainder of the bill for the repairs and replacements carried out on the town's Christmas lights.

As reported in last week's 'Post', the Chamber of Trade, who this year have taken full responsibility for the lights, received a bill for over £5,000 for the work carried out.

As the bill was considerably more than expected, the firm agreed to reduce it by £1,000. Due to vigorous fundraising carried out during the year, the chamber were able to pay almost £2,000 but there still remained a deficit of over £2,000.

The chamber approach­ed the town council for help who agreed to offer them an interest free loan for 12 months.

However, Andigestion have now stepped forward and offered a donation of £1,900 which will clear the debt.

Jonathan Hutchings, from the Chamber of Trade said: "Taking into account the dinner we're holding on Sunday, £1,900 was roughly what was going to be left after that."

Adam Green, the Holsworthy biogas plant administrator, said: "We're a member of the Chamber of Trade so we understood there were financial difficulties this year with the repairs that had been undertaken."

He added: "We've had quite a good 10 week period in terms of electricity production. We've been generating quite a lot of electricity and the more we generate the greater our income. In October, for example, we exported over 1,000 mega watt hours."

Mr Green explained that the company already supported Holsworthy Youth Football. They sponsored the under 15's team last year and are continuing to sponsor them this year as under 16's.

He commented: "It's nice to get involved in local events and this was something we were in a position to do.

"We get quite a lot of poor publicity around Holsworthy and it's nice to make a gesture, something good for the whole town.

"The company believes it's good to support the local town and businesses and local sporting events."

Mr Hutchings said: "The Chamber of Trade would like to say a big thank you to Andigestion. We're very grateful for their help, they've helped the town out at the end of the day."

The Chamber of Trade held a meeting last night (Wednesday), during which they were going to discuss the town council's loan.

Mr Hutchings said due to the high bill received this year, the Chamber of Trade now had nothing remaining in the bank. He also explained that even though the bill had been paid, they would be in a similar situation next year as the lights will need to be checked and renewed annually.