A COMMUNITY group wanting to adorn streets with hanging baskets is celebrating after a council decided to pay for lampposts to be tested for safety.

Volunteers from Blooming Lights, which raises money to put baskets up in Skelton and Brotton, were told earlier this year by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council that they would have all 140 lampposts in the two towns tested, at a cost of £50 per lamppost, before hanging the baskets.

The authority said it had safety concerns over the possibility of the columns collapsing.

But now the council has said it will absorb the costs of having the posts tested so that community groups wishing to install baskets will no longer have to pay.

The volunteers at Blooming Lights are delighted with the news, but said the towns could not expect the usual display because baskets have not yet been ordered.

Skelton Councillor Helen McLuckie, chairman of the Blooming Lights committee, said: "We are delighted that the council has had a change of heart, but we won't have the displays we've had in the past because the baskets have to be made up in advance and we didn't have any ordered."

Council cabinet member Eric Empson said: "We are all determined to enhance the appearance of the borough and we acknowledge the wonderful work being carried out by volunteers.

"We are sure this new approach, which stops any potential drain on the groups' resources, will be welcomed by everyone."

Opposition Labour leader George Dunning said: "Local groups will breathe a sigh of relief. It is a victory for positive local action, especially from the Blooming Lights committee in the Skelton and Brotton area."