Shop News: 48 year-old Steve Cottrell has acquired hero status in his native Bury St Edmunds by sending his own message to local retailers keen to start Christmas early this year.

Mr. Cottrell, a systems analyst and father of two, says he was outraged to see the shops below his flat celebrating the festive season two months before the big day.

“It’s played absolute havoc with the kids,” he told the East Anglian Daily Times. “As soon as the lights went up they were on at me about what Father Christmas was going to bring them morning, noon and night.”

“It’s just not fair the pressure these shops put on parents.”

Mr. Cottrell said he resorted to hanging his own lights off his balcony after all his appeals to the shops below his flat were rebuffed.

“They pretty much laughed in my face,” he said. “So I thought I’d give them a taste of their own mistletoe and wine.”

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