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It takes up to four months to get all the decorations down from the loft and another four to pack them all up again but it's a labour of love for the couple who adore festooning their home with more than 40,000 festive lights.

They have life-size Father Christmas's, snowmen and other winter character all of whom sing or dance to festive tunes.

Denise has a twinkling collection of Christmas cottages with miniature ice-skaters moving in time to music.

There are even decorations kept especially for the toilet.

Each year the Lumsden's raise thousands of pounds to help raise money for the children's hospice near Bristol.

This year was a little more problematic than just checking whether all the lights still worked.

New health and safety rules meant all Bern's wiring had to be officially checked and signed off to say it was safe for the public.

Luckily for the charity they support and for all the families who love visiting their home during December each year, they passed the tests and were awarded the relevant certificate.

As a result of this, the couple decided not to "go mad" inside this year, although they have probably still got more decorations up than most of us.

Bernie and Denise intend to carry on with their own special spirit of Christmas for years to come.