Oxford Street and other areas of Central London such as Bond Street and Piccadilly due to "pickpocketing, fraud and theft". The advent of closed-circuit television has reduced the area's attraction to scam artists and illegal street traders. Every Christmas, Oxford Street is decorated with festive lights. The tradition of Christmas lights began in 1959, five years after neighbouring Regent Street. There were no light displays in 1976 or 1977 because of economic recession, but the lights returned in 1978 when Oxford Street organised a laser display, and have continued every year since. Current practice involves a celebrity turning the lights on in
Ship Street, Oxford Ship Street, Oxford Ship Street is a short street in central Oxford, England that runs east–west. The street lies north of Jesus College and west of Exeter College, two of Oxford University's colleges. To the south, at the western end is the Junior Common Room of Jesus and to the eastern end is the same college's Principal's (private) garden. At the western end is St Michael at the Northgate church, near the site of the original north gate in the city wall. Originally Oxford's wall ran just to the north of Ship Street. At the eastern end once stood the