Croxley’s ‘Mr Christmas’ stars on Channel 5 programme

A Croxley Green villager fabled for his spectacular festive house displays made his TV debut last night on Channel 5 programme Britain’s Craziest Christmas Lights. Dave Edwards, 79, of Lancing Way, was one of four chosen to appear in the show which featured Christmas-mad homeowners from across the country. Narrated by Noddy Holder of Slade fame, the programme followed Mr Edwards’ meticulous method of installing his extravagant decorations, which he has now done for 36 years. During the programme Mr Edwards is introduced as the ‘governor of Christmas lights’ and as a ‘pioneer’, while his wife Carol said jokingly: “He does it because he is mad.” Mr Edwards recalled previous experiences of putting up Christmas lights while they still contained 40 watt bulbs, including when one broke and caused a large burn mark to a window. The villager was also filmed calling DIY SOS’ Billy Byrne, who switched on the lights this year. The segment concluded with footage of the lights switch-on, which came two days after Mr Edwards hit the switch on intu Watford’s Christmas lights. The 79-year-old told My Croxley News that he “very much enjoyed” his TV debut. He said: “Usually you shut your eyes with these things and its over but it was great. Unfortunately they couldn’t show the intu light switch on due to legal discussions, which meant part of the story was missing. All the same it was fun and from the look of it we had three or four times more people for the switch-on than the other houses. “The other houses were very nice, some had more lights and one was a bit over the top,” he added. “I wouldn’t mind getting in the car to have a look at one or two of them to get a few ideas! I thought being called the governor was a compliment, it sounded like something out of The Godfather. The publicity has been marvellous and hopefully it means we raised more than £5,000.” At the time of writing Mr Edwards’ Christmas lights have raised more than £3,800 for the Help Noah Walk fund, children’s charity POD, Croxley Green Scouts and Bury Lake Young Mariners. Britain’s Craziest Christmas Lights will be repeated on Christmas Day at 7.30pm