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 not perform and the contract was retendered for approximately NZ£32,000, with P. Graham and Son, Limited, as the successful party. The overall cost of the project was NZ£90,000. The street was built at a width of , and the north-south length of Christchurch Central City blocks is . The sculptor William Trethewey carried out some of the interior decorations. The company asked for the street to be named Regent Street, but the Christchurch City Council declined the request on the grounds that a street of that name already existed in Sydenham, and suggested New Regent Street instead. Regent Street in