A mum has begun turning her home into a winter wonderland - with almost three months to go until Christmas.

Mary Whitcher has already begun putting dozens of decorations and ornaments up on her house in Totton.

For the third time in four years, Mary, who lives on Coblands Avenue, has decorated the outside of her house with Christmas lights and ornaments ahead of a grand switch on for the whole community to see.

It is all in aid of charity.

A timer counting down the days to December 25 is displayed next to the front window, which went live 150 days before the big day.

“I think some parents might hate me because as soon as the children walk past, they think it’s Christmas,” said Mary.

The 51-year-old added: “Lots of people come to see the light display, people love them.

Mary's Christmas light display in 2022 (Image: Mary Whitcher) “We’ve got so many lights it’s almost impossible to count. A lot of them are retro and quite old fashioned, which we’ve sourced over the years from America.

“We’ve had some of the lights modified so they’re all LED’s and good for the environment. It costs us around £3.50 a day when they’re on which is quite good, considering all that we’ve got.”

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It’s taken Mary and her family eight weekends to get the display ready, although she did confess she had some extra help from the elves.

With a light-up Father Christmas, gingerbread man, and Mickey Mouse – the display also includes ornamental figures recreating the nativity.

Santa's workshop (Image: Matt Davey) “The nativity display is my favourite, it’s the true meaning of Christmas,” said Mary.

“I find a lot of the kids these days don’t know the true meaning of Christmas, I’m not religious but I think it’s about giving and loving others.”

A self-confessed Christmas fan, Mary is hoping to raise money for the Make-A-Wish-Foundation, having previously raised around £4,000 in two previous years for Oakhaven Hospice, giving visitors the opportunity to donate whatever they can.

She said: “People don’t have to make a donation if they don’t want to but for those that do, they can go directly to the charity, we’ve also got QR codes advertised and small boxes that people can drop money into.

“We know a couple of kids who have had their wishes granted through the charity, so we wanted to try and give back to them.”

The lights display will be switched on for the first time this year on Saturday, November 30.