New street lights for Walsall after residents afraid of walking around at night
Street lights will be fitted in parts of Walsall plagued by anti-social behaviour - funded by the firm that makes them.
Four LED lights with motion detectors are being installed in the Cresswell Crescent Parade in the Mossley Estate following complaints that residents were afraid of walking there at night.
It means the lamps will switch on when someone approaches.
Manufacturers Digiland will pay for the lights and bosses are now looking for up to five other blackspots.
Operations director Ian Adams said: "We have been in touch with Walsall Council to find out which areas would need the lights and we will make a decision soon.
"We are happy to pay for this and we hope it will make a difference for residents."
Walsall North Conservative parliamentary candidate Douglas Hansen-Luke held talks with Digicare to secure the investment and said he hoped it would cut crime.
He said the lights will 'act as a real deterrent to anti-social behavior such as drug-dealing, vandalism and petty crime'.
He added: "I'm delighted Digiland, have committed to provide lighting for Walsall's worst crime black-spots."
The lights in Mossley will be installed on private land owned by Palminder Singh, who own shop units and the Leathern Bottle pub.
Digiland, based in Telford, is one of Britain's leading sellers of LED lights and they are used on streets, warehouses and football pitches.
The LED lights use less energy than traditional bulbs and are being introduced by councils across the region.
Sandwell has also been replacing its lamps with energy saving lanterns.
Attention is now turning to 1,120 street lights that line the borough's main roads, which burn the most energy, in a bid to slash another £88,000 from annual council electricity bills.
It is estimated that over a 25-year period, the moves could save Sandwell Council £12.7 million in energy costs.
Some of these new lanterns have already been in operation on the Black Country Route for the past few months.
Until now 3,437 energy efficient LED lanterns have been fitted to columns situated in residential areas.
But as the output needed is higher for lighting on main roads the technology was insufficient. Recently, however, strides have been made in the lighting available, meaning higher-power lanterns can now be fitted to columns on major routes.
If any business or area would like to apply for lighting, they should email rhughes@workingforwalsall.com
