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
New Regent Street Sydenham was renamed Roxburgh Street in 1948. New Regent Street is named for London's Regent Street, itself that city's first planned street, and built between 1814 and 1825. The street was finished in late March 1932. One of its features was a lighting system consisting of 400 lamps, and when this was first switch on for a trial on 24 March, hundreds of citizens went for a walk down the long street. To make use of the lighting, the formal opening was held on the evening of 1 April 1932. The proceedings were chaired by Dan Sullivan, the Mayor of