Mr Christmas tearful as 23 years of displays ends

A man known as Mr Christmas who has raised £120,000 for charity with more than two decades of festive light displays has said this will be his final year.

Anthony O'Toole has decorated his house in Fallowfield, Luton, for 23 years - and also spends five hours every evening sat outside in a grotto dressed as Father Christmas.

But at the weekend, Mr O'Toole was holding back tears as he told BBC Three Counties Radio he was switching the 75,000 lights on for the last time.

Now a pensioner, he said: "I'm getting too old. My legs don't work as well as they used to and climbing ladders don't suit me anymore."

He started the tradition to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust (CFT) after his niece, Siobhan Kirby, 39, was diagnosed with the condition.

The inside of the house is also bedecked with lights and people are invited in to look around.

Known locally as "Mr Christmas", he has been delighted to be recognised when on holiday in places such as Spain and Budapest.

He said: "For a lot of people, Christmas starts when I lay the lights.

"It's the end of an era. It has to come some time."

Kevina Goodchild from CFT was at the light switch-on.

She said: "He is absolutely remarkable, the amount of effort he goes through every single year to put up all these decorations, all these lights.

"Every night he's in his grotto to make sure all the kids in the local area get to see Father Christmas.

"We are in awe of Tony. Everybody at CFT knows who is. We're super proud of everything he does for us.

"It is by far our biggest festive fundraising campaign, so we're amazed by it."

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