Covid 19 coronavirus Delta outbreak: Lights at Waipū police station

Senior Constable Martin Geddes has transformed the Waipū police station into a beacon of light to combat those lockdown blues. Photo / NZ Police

A Waipū police officer has cast an array of dazzling light over lockdown gloom by decking the coastal community's police station out in Christmas lights.

The town's local cop of 20 years, Senior Constable Martin Geddes, has strung multi-coloured lights throughout the station's inside and exterior.

It was usually an annual tradition kept for the festive time of year, started in 2000 by the late Constable Lindsay Walker, but Geddes thought the town could use some cheer a little earlier.

"He [Lindsay] used to put Christmas lights up at the Waipū station. Sadly, he died of cancer in 2007 so to keep his memory alive I put the lights up at the end of that year and then the following year, by which time I had caught the bug.

"My family and I are in this lockdown with the rest of our community, so it's nice to give people something to smile about – even a little thing like the Christmas lights in August."

Geddes put the festive touches on the station this week after he saw a news item on Seven Sharp, encouraging people to string their Christmas lights hoarded away in order to raise spirits.

"This is a great community so to be able to make people smile during these tough Covid times is a good thing," he said.

Geddes was a big supporter of staying positive during the tough times Covid brought on.

"During the last lockdown I thought the teddy bears thing was a great idea, so we put some out. It was great to see the reactions of the local kids when they realised even the policeman and his family had joined in on the fun."

Geddes was also the major force behind the Bream Bay Beach Safety Ambassador programme.

The programme, having recently completed its fifth season, was set up after a rise in drownings on the Bream Bay stretch of coastline with three crab fishers drowning in four years.

It aims to educate, in particular, an increasing number of Asians from Auckland catching paddle crabs.