New revelation in Lindsay Lohan Christmas lights saga

Lindsay Lohan had agreed to travel to Kettering. Credit: Borja B Hojas ABACA/PA Images

Lindsay Lohan's team were told sending a Christmas video might be a "way forward" - when it appeared the Mean Girls actress would not honour a pledge to turn on Kettering's Christmas lights last year.

Lohan had agreed to travel to the Northamptonshire town after implying nobody had heard of the place while tweeting during the night of the EU referendum.

Kettering Borough Council got in touch with Lohan's representatives just under a month before the switch-on was due to take place at the town's Market Place.

In emails seen by the Press Association, the actress's representatives told the council they were "very supportive" of her crossing the Atlantic to switch on the lights.

Hours before the event, Lohan posted a video to her nine million Twitter followers to make her excuses. Credit: Anthony Devlin PA Wire/PA Images

But as the festive event approached, the council wrote an email in which they feared "the media will start to come to their own conclusions" given Lohan's attendance had not been confirmed.

An email, sent the day before the switch-on, said: "If Lindsay is not able to attend... then a video played on our big screen could offer a way forward for us all."

Other correspondence from the council to Lohan's team said it was keen to agree "some words... that make a positive out of the situation", adding: "There is no sense in creating any negative PR with this."

Hours before the event, Lohan posted a video to her nine million Twitter followers to make her excuses. In it, she said: "Hi everyone in Kettering it's Lindsay Lohan."I really wanted to make it there to light the tree but with my busy schedule I wasn't able to, and appreciate the offer. Happy holidays."

The documents released by the council also reveal staff rang Lohan's representatives five times in the week leading up to the switch-on, including twice on the day itself.