As the darkness sets in, the slow appearance of festive lights is a nightly gift | Emma Beddington

The display on York's Twinkle Way' has delighted visitors and raised more than 100,000 for charity. Even a Scrooge like me knows that life will be poorer without it

Christmas in York has lost a bit of its sparkle. Residents of Twin Pike Way have decided they won't be putting on their traditional light display this year. The cul-de-sac started its display to mark the millennium and has raised more than 100,000 for charity, donated by people who came to admire the multicoloured extravaganza.

Now, though, the residents are carefully coiling up their LEDs and deflating their penguins. Most of us are pensioners now, and it's also due to other problems including electricity charges ... and the cost of replacing decorations," Alan and Pamela Reed told the York Press.