A BRAVE boy and an inspirational teenage footballer will be the Switch-on Stars for a community's festive spectacular.

Popular Taylor Smith and rising star Georgia Stanway will flick the switch this weekend.

They were chosen after the Evening Mail launched its search for a star campaign.

Taylor, 11, and Georgia, 17, will be the centre of attention at Barrow's Christmas event, which has been organised by the community after the council pulled the plug on funding.

Among the judges was Beth Horan, whose company Ultimate Events UK is organising the extravaganza.

She said: "We were honoured to be asked to take part in and plan this event and were blown away by the number of nominations for people to be Switch-on Stars.

"We think we have two fantastic young people to do the honours and I really look forward to meeting them."

Town Square in Barrow will be the venue for this year's event on Saturday, with a host of local stars lining up to entertain.

The highlight will be when brave Taylor and talented Georgia join the mayor and Father Christmas on stage to press the button and bathe Barrow in a festive glow.

Among the judges who selected the Switch-on Stars was Evening Mail editor James Higgins.

He said: "It was really just a case of rubber stamping what the public had said they wanted. We had multiple nominations for both Taylor and Georgia.

"There were plenty of other worthy people put forward and the organisers are going to try and ensure they are involved in some way."

* Keep an eye out for a full guide to the big switch on event in the Evening Mail and online later this week.