Newport mum's house lit up for Christmas in secret

Kath Roberts took great pride in her seasonal display at her St Julian's house over the years.

But Mrs Roberts suffers from osteoarthritis, meaning she is not able to get around as easily as she once was, and in recent years has been forced to pass over control of the spectacular display to her daughter, Kirsty Roberts-Price, who, along with her father Paul, have kept things shining brightly each year.

"My mother was very independent when I was younger, but it now falls to me and my father to help her do most things," explained Mrs Roberts-Price.

Kirsty Roberts-Price, Paul Roberts and Kath Roberts

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However, this year the pair decided to really push the boat out and create an entire Christmas lights display in secret.

"We decorate the house with lights most years," explained Mrs Roberts-Price. But, this year we had been sneakily going to Festive in Cwmbran and buying the odd bits here and there.

"We made the light-up garlands and the umbrella by hand and even begged the manager at festive to let us buy the Santa.

"It wasn’t for sale but that was that...the manager allowed us to buy it."

Work began on the display in mid-November and relied upon Mrs Roberts being kept well out of sight of the construction process.

"We made sure my mother couldn’t see anything and kept her in the house and we went for it," said Mrs Roberts-Price.

"I’m chief designer with the 'dream' and my dad is the coordinator who sorts all the electrics out."

Throughout the project it proved difficult to keep Mrs Roberts from discovering what the pair were working on before it was ready.

"My mother likes everything to be perfect, she's a bit of a perfectionist," explained Mrs Roberts-Price. "All day she was nervous and kept asking: 'What are you doing? What are you hiding? It better not be tacky'.

"As she made her way down the driveway and turned around and looked at the Santa and reindeer she put her hands over her face and cried.

"She loved it."

Mrs Roberts said: "I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, I kept thinking what on earth was taking so long.

"When I seen it I was so overwhelmed. It really is gorgeous.”

Mrs Roberts-Price explained that she took on the responsibility for the lights display with her father because "we are both big kids who love the lights and glitter".

She explained that such was their commitment to making sure it was just right that the lights were almost becoming her full-time job.

"We have come to realise that the years are going by so quickly and we need to make the most of it," she said.

"We love the Christmas period so we decided to share it with everyone that comes past this year, hoping it would brighten up their day just for a moment."

• Have you got a festive lights display to rival the Roberts'? We want to see it! Send your pictures, along with a bit of information about the location, to newsdesk@southwalesargus.co.uk