BUGS Bunny, Daffy Duck and Bart and Homer Simpson have all been among the guests at Burnley's Christmas lights switch-on in the past few years.

But the cartoon favourites could become a thing of the past because of money worries at the group which organises the festive event.

The Christmas switch-on cost the Town Centre Partnership £5,000 last year compared to £3,000 the year before because of increased insurance and security costs. Hiring the cartoon characters alone costs £1,800.

Bosses at the partnership, which is made up of 75 local businesses working to promote and improve the town centre, are also facing reduced budgets which could impact on this year's event unless sponsorship can be found.

There are also fears the lack of cash could effect on the partnership's ability to market Burnley.

Budgets have dropped from £175,000 a few years ago to just £82,000 for this year with around only £17,000 available for marketing.

The partnership has started liaising with town centre traders to see what they want from a Christmas event.

Options include scaling down the switch on and focusing on attracting families and young children, bringing in a celebrity look-a-like to turn on the lights - which would cost around £500 - and getting rid of the cartoon characters.

Town centre manager Lisa Durkin said: "If people want to keep a large-scale event we will go down that road but we want to look at other options to provide what people want."