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PHONE giant Nokia was branded Scrooge for robbing the Island of the chance of a glittering Wight Christmas.
But now, after furious phone-in protests on Isle of Wight Radio and pressure from the County Press applied to the company’s Finnish HQ, it has relented and allowed Islanders to vote to bring a Finnish Christmas party here.
And you can now register your vote, here on the County Press website, and Nokia have agreed we can pass on those votes to them.
The festivities come complete with Father Christmas, reindeer, elves, eight tonnes of synthetic snow, presents and lashings of food and drink inspired by star chef Marco Pierre White.
People simply vote for the town of their choice and the party travels to winning communities in each region.
Nokia had branded us an offshore Island, citing logistics as a barrier, and banned people from voting — even advising Islanders to vote for towns in Hampshire instead.
But it relented after we approached Nokia’s director of communications.
Isle of Wight Council leader David Pugh joined in and said he would do everything he could to support the party here.
Nokia’s David Hall said: "Having seen the strength of feeling on the Island, we have reconsidered and we will consider the number of votes collected by your paper and the radio station.
"I'm afraid our voting website cannot be altered at this late stage and the closing date/cut off date will have to remain Monday (November 16) at 9am, as stated in our terms and conditions.
"Valid e-mail addresses and mobile numbers will have to be supplied, as per the main entry conditions on our site.
"I hope that this will engender goodwill and we really wish everyone on the Isle of Wight a very merry Christmas and — having looked at the costs and logistics — I am really rooting for you! "
VOTE to give the Island a party to remember!
Click here to vote to bring a real Christmas to remember to Newport.
• Full terms and conditions at http://christmas.nokia.co.uk/