Lincolnshire scraps plans to turn off street lighting at 10pm

Lincolnshire County Council has backtracked on plans to turn of street lighting at 10pm following calls from local residents.

The move was part of plans to save £1.7 million from the Council’s annual £5 million street lighting budget, but those affected voiced concerns that the plans could risk road safety and inconvenience residents.

The plans to turn off lighting in some residential areas will still go ahead, but they will now remain on until 12pm, when the council says there is significantly less traffic on the roads.

Cllr Richard Davies, executive member for highways and transport, said: “The Council’s budget has been cut by more than £100 million over the last few years, and we need to save a further £41 million this year. We simply can’t afford to do everything we’ve done in the past.

“Streetlights are expensive, and, frankly, many of them do not need to be on during the small hours of the morning - all they are doing is burning taxpayers’ money.”

He added: “However, we know some people are concerned by the changes, particularly those on streets where the lights have been going out at 10pm. We’ve listened, and have decided to revise our plans. That means all ‘part-night’ lights will now remain on until midnight.”

Davies confirmed that those lights already converted to turn off at 10pm would be revisited over the next few months and reset to switch off at midnight.