Kensington: London pub with 55 Christmas trees and 150k LED lights

A London pub has switched on 150,000 LED lights on its 55 Christmas trees to mark the start of the festive season.

The Churchill Arms in Kensington, west London, has been covered in pine trees every festive season for over 30 years.

The lights will be on at 4pm every day until 'Twelfth Night' on January 6.

To celebrate the grand switch on of this mountain of lights the pub invited everyone who came along inside to get free mulled wine and minced pies as a treat for their support.

James Keogh, 59, from Twickenham, south west London, is the pub's general manager.

He said: “The lights cover the whole building from top to bottom and we’ve got loads of lights inside the pub, so it is not just lit up outside it is lit up inside as well.

“We are always tweaking it every year by adding new ornaments.”

This year the pub also have a post box where children can come and post a letter to Santa, a big reindeer outside the door and Christmas puddings and Santas scattered throughout.

There is an enormous 16-foot tree outside the pubs front door which James described as “a real feature”.

Although he was not allowed to disclose the cost of the grand display, he said: “It is worth every penny that we spent on it, and it is well worth our while doing it.”

“There are loads and loads of people outside the pub, across the street, everywhere waiting for the lights to come on and it is an amazing illumination.

"It's thrilling to see it honestly. We are known for being the most festive pub in England would you believe, it is an amazing looking pub.”

The tradition started in 1990 when one tree was put up at the entrance of the pub, then a couple were scattered around the outside.

The pub is well known for its floral displays in the summer and the tradition carried over to Christmas.

James added: “What happened was we got a bit excited, we decided to add more trees. Year on year on we just kept adding trees. We can’t put any more up now because we can’t secure them anywhere else.”