A charitable neighbour has given his street the wow-factor, after he decorated his house with 12,000 Christmas lights.

Bill Bates, 50, of Agister Road, Chigwell, has kept himself busy this winter by putting up thousands of festive lights and setting up a nativity scene-like stable outside his own front door and all for Haven House Children’s Hospice.

He said: “I thought this would be something everyone could enjoy looking at during the winter period.

“My neighbours have loved it – I’ve come home to a few hampers and bottles of wine thanking me for lighting up the area!”

Bill started working with a charity that promoted research into infant deaths 10-years-ago but has since worked alongside Saint Francis Hospice and Demelza Hospice based in Kent.

He said: “I thought that since I’ve had a good life, I should do things for other people and charity work seemed like the best way to go about it.”

The father-of-four spent a total of 10 days putting up all of his decorations and hopes his lights can entice passers-by to leave generous donations in the charity buckets left outside his house.

He said: “It’s a great cause that deserves a lot of recognition and a lot of help.”