FRUSTRATED residents have taken to social media decrying the Minehead's 'lack of festive spirit' following the town's Christmas Lights Switch-On.

Among a plethora of comments, residents bemoaned the lack of countdown, music or sense of community, with one saying she had seen 'more Christmas Spirit at a set of traffic lights'.

Another described it as a 'wasted opportunity', and another added 'just turning a switch on is not an event', while others compared Minehead's effort with Ilfracombe's where thousands turned out.

One Minehead resident commented: "Sadly we don’t even bother going any more. Smaller surrounding villages put ours to shame."

Minehead Chamber of Commerce chairman Alex De Mendoza said the various groups involved had not communicated well enough and only started putting Saturday's event together in October on a limited budget.

"It was a shame as Minehead needs a big Christmas event, but this year it was a lot of people trying to put it together too late with too little money," Mr De Mendoza said. "But I am optimistic, if, as I hope, the Business Investment District bid comes in next year, there will be a good amount of money in the kitty to put on an exciting event."

Minehead Town Council stated that each year it provides the Christmas Tree in Wellington Square as well as the small Christmas trees which go above the shops.

Others on social media did counter the negative comments, with one stating: "A few years ago a team of volunteers organised a great event but they were given so much hassle they understandably decided to take a step back." There are still Christmas events to come with Minehead First School's Christmas Spectacular on Saturday from 2pm to 5pm.