An empty former card shop in Ashby has been turned into a Nativity scene by a local church.

The space has been temporarily given to Ashby Methodist Church who came up with the idea of using the vacant shop.

It means a Christmas scene is on show in Market Street rather than inside the Burton Road church which cannot hold its traditional festive celebrations due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Rev Jacky Goaten told Ashby Nub News how the idea came about.

"We can't invite people to come in and join our Nativity as we normally would, so we decided to take the Nativity to the people," she said.

"So we got in touch with Roger Etchells surveyors and asked if there was any possibility, if the property was going to be empty at Christmas time, if we could put a display in the window.

"He spoke to the owner who generously said yes. So thanks to everyone there for that.

"When he said we could do it, we wanted to get it done as close to December 1 as we could.

"But we couldn't involve as many people as we would normally.

"The things we used though were props from something we use at the church called, Open The Book.

"It's a team that go out into the local schools to do an assembly, taking the Christian message and act out the stories.

"At Christmas time, they get together for the Christmas Journey which goes out into the hills. Which is why we wanted the second window to look a bit like a hill.

"It only took a couple of hours to put together, We wanted to get it done early, so we met at the church at 8am and carried the things across.

"Other people provided things like the straw, but the angel we had didn't quite spread the message in the way we wanted. It was a bit small.

"Normally, the angel would be played by a person.

"So we needed something else. And someone suggested a mannequin. So I ran up to Peacock's and asked if I could borrow one, and they very kindly let me.

"It was quite funny to see someone wearing a dog collar walking down Market Street with a mannequin!"

And Rev ?? says the reaction to the shop scene has been good.

"From the first night, someone left me a message on the answer machine saying they just wanted to thank the church for putting the true message of Christmas at the heart of our town," she said.

"Another friend said she'd been taking some pictures on her phone and there were about six other people doing the same thing.

"We just wanted that message of what Christmas is about, a baby born in a stable who changes the world.

Normally, the churches in Ashby would encourage children and families to get involved in the Christmas celebrations.

But they are having to find new ways this time for obvious reasons.

"Throughout the whole year, across all the churches, people have spent so long on the telephone chatting with people and writing letters just to make sure that no-one feels totally isolated or lonely," added Rev Jacky.

"And, if someone is ill, we've been able to spread the word within an hour so we can pray for that person.

"There have also been practical things like making sure people get their food or their medicines."