THE King came to Amersham on The Hill to switch its Christmas tree lights on last night, and add some showbiz glitz to the festive evening.

Top Elvis impersonator Rob Kingsley delighted onlookers with a musical performance before flicking the switch to the tree outside St Michael and All Saints Church in Sycamore Road just after 7pm.

He said afterwards: “It’s a great honour, I’ve done lots of charity work down here, but not the actual switching on of the lights before.”

After Elvis, onlookers enjoyed performances of festive songs by the Churches Together in Amersham Choir, the Chess Valley Male Voice Choir, and the Amersham Town Band.

The wet, cold weather had put some off, but there were still plenty of people out enjoying themselves at fairground attractions and doing some late-night shopping.

Councillor Martin Phillips, deputy mayor of Amersham, said there weren’t quite as many attractions as had been hoped, and some of the entertainment arranged had to pull out of the event unexpectedly. But he thought the night was still a success.

He said: “Everybody seems to be enjoying themselves which is the great thing. We got there in the end.

“The businesses have all supported tonight. The idea was to get them to promote themselves – usually they have all done quite well out of it.”

Father Christmas arrived in a sleigh to give out sweets to children as part of Amersham Round Table’s fundraising efforts for the Sea Cadets.

The Samaritans were also out singing carols, as they reminded people their volunteers would be at the end of a phone every day throughout the Christmas period.

And there was a range of stalls stretching down Sycamore Road to support charities.

Visitors also had the chance to enter a tombola, which offered more than £2,000 worth of prizes.

The event was organised by Amersham Action, with proceeds from the raffle contributing toward the cost of the evening.