Report by STUART DYE

TELEVISION'S laziest lay-abouts have agreed to put in some overtime in Winsford - when they illuminate the shopping centre with a spectacular Christmas lights switch on.

Coronation Street's Les Battersby, alias Bruce Jones, will team up with Ricky Tomlinson (Jim Royle from The Royle Family) to turn on the lights at 6.30pm on Friday, November 26.

The big switch on will be part of a whole day of festive fun that begins at 3.30pm with DJ Ian Lees' Christmas Roadshow and climaxes with a musical firework extravaganza just after 7pm.

The shopping centre has a host of events for your festive diary in the run up to Christmas, including carol singing, free trees, Santa's Grotto and the Grand Millennium Raffle.

Tickets for the raffle are on sale now from the centre manager's office in Commerce House, at a cost of £1.

Prizes include a TV and video, a mini hi-fi and weekend breaks, and all proceeds go to the Variety Club of Great Britain - a charity which helps under-privileged children.

Santa's Grotto opens on Monday, November 22 and centre manager Paul Bateman promises it will be the only one of its kind for miles around: "It is an animated Victorian grotto based on Stephenson's Rocket which makes it a superb display. The whole Christmas build up is a fantastic thing for Winsford and this year it's going to be really spectacular. We hope lots of children and families will come and enjoy the fun."

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.