Street lights across Surrey will be on overnight on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, because of an “official request” from Father Christmas.

At the council meeting on December 6, Councillor Colin Kemp said the request had been made because Rudolph’s nose is “a little duller this year”.

He said: “We wanted to make sure that the children of Surrey get their Christmas presents on Christmas Eve.”

For adults, the decision was also made so they can enjoy celebrations during the festive period, and safely walk to mass on Christmas Eve.

Cllr Kemp said the team had been able to overcome “technical issues” in order to make this commitment.

The council has recently kept the lights on for an extra hour at night, until 1am instead of midnight, although on most nights they remain off until 5am.