There will be no Christmas lights in Elstree's High Street this year after light fittings fell foul of new health and safety laws.

The fairy lights and decorations have become a popular part of Christmas in the village over the past nine years, but this year they failed to meet strict new standards imposed by a nationwide code of practice.

Paul Welsh, entertainments officer at Elstree and Borehamwood Town Council, which provides the lights, said the council was only told about the new rules at the end of September, meaning it couldn't change the fittings in time for Christmas.

Borehamwood will have its Christmas lights in Shenley Road switched on as normal tomorrow, and Radlett's lights were turned on in Watling Street on Tuesday evening.

Mr Welsh said: "All 65 street columns had to be tested. Of the ten in Elstree, two had no fittings and eight failed to meet the new electrical standards. It takes a month to get a company to do the tests and we didn't know we had failed until November 3, by which time it was too late. If we had heard about the code of practice at the beginning of the year we would have had time to carry out the tests and get them fixed but we only had a month's notice."

The town council pays for Christmas lights at three locations in Borehamwood, as well as in High Street, Elstree.

Licences to put up Christmas lights are issued by Hertfordshire county council once all the necessary checks have been carried out. New rules specify that there be a four-metre exclusion zone' around lights in the high street and that every fitting is inspected daily.

Councillor Morris Bright, who represents Elstree on the borough council, said: "I think it is a terrible shame. We all like to see our high street colourfully lit at this time of year and once again red tape and bureaucracy has overshadowed what should be a happy time. We fully understand that health and safety is paramount but what a pity we found out so late and we couldn't do something about it."

Adebisi Bankole, 19, from Beethoven Road, Elstree, said: "They've had them every year that I can remember, it's part of Christmas. If Borehamwood can have them, then why can't we?"

A spokeswoman for Hertfordshire County Council said: "The code of practice applies throughout the whole country. Letters were sent to parish and town councils in October 2005 warning them about the new rules, and further reminder letters were issued in September giving them guidance and suggesting they carry out tests to ensure compliance with the code."

But Mr Welsh said: "We got a letter in 2005 requesting information on Christmas lights, but it gave no details of the code of practice.

"We've been doing this for 37 years and we've always had public safety awareness - we didn't just stick them up and hope for the best. It is a bit unfortunate but hopefully next year we can sit down and sort it out and see what is achievable."