Express & Star

U-turn on Staffordshire street lights switch-off - because it won't save enough money

Plans to switch off street lights in Staffordshire have been scrapped as council bosses say it will not save enough money.

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It was estimated that turning off the lights between midnight and 5am would bring in up to £100,000 a year, but the switch-off has now been dropped.

Instead low energy LED lights are being fitted, which can be controlled remotely and dimmed at night, saving the same amount.

Two years ago 25 towns and villages expressed an interest in a scheme to turn lights off between midnight and dawn which would save about £7 per light a year.

The county council spends up to £9 million a year on street lighting across Staffordshire and looks after about 107,000 lamps.

Bosses say they have to cope with the rising cost of electricity and estimated the price for lighting the roads could go up by 10 per cent a year.

The move has been welcomed by Essington Parish Council chairman David Clifft.

"I'm over the moon.

Residents were worried about driving in the dark and an increase in crime, so I'm overjoyed with this decision.

"It wasn't going to be cost-effective because there would have been an increase in crime to deal with. I think they will save enough money from using LEDs and they won't even need to consider dimming."

Staffordshire County Council spokesman Paula Wright said: "There is no need to pursue the partial night switch-off, but parish councils can still request it if they want to.

"Lights are already being dimmed between the hours of midnight and 5am in some areas and we have have not had a single complaint."

Dudley Council is looking at turning off lights from 2016, but has not drawn up any firm plans.

More than half of the borough's 32,000 street lights can now also be controlled remotely allowing some of them to be dimmed at night.

In Walsall, lights were turned down on the A453 Aldridge Road between midnight and 5am as part of a month-long pilot scheme.

But the council dropped the idea last year and has no plans to bring it back.

Wolverhampton City Council has rejected the idea, opting to invest in LED lights.

Sandwell Council has not ruled out a switch-off, but has just fitted 3,500 LED lanterns to save £108,000 a year.

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