Street lights to be switched back on at night

Street lights in Coventry are to be switched back on after midnight after new technology is rolled out.

Hundreds of residents had raised safety concerns after lights on more 2,500 city streets were turned off from midnight to 05:30, under cost-saving measures from Coventry City Council.

The authority rejected a plea to reverse the move in January, as it said crime had not gone up as a result of the changes.

However a councillor confirmed overnight lighting will return as part of a £10m change to "greener" more energy efficient LEDs, set to be installed from September.

Councillor Richard Brown, who leads on council finances, said more areas in Coventry should see the street lamps turned back on from the autumn and winter, as the upgrades were installed. 

The scheme will be rolled out to between 27,000 and 30,000 lights in the city, a greater number than are affected by the current policy, and will also be dimmed to 30% at night.

Brown said there had been a "mixed bag of responses" to the switch-off, which was brought in under council budget cuts in July.

The switch-off was agreed last year as part of a £30m saving the council is trying to achieve, with police confirming there had been no marked increase in crime in the affected areas.

Brown said some people were happy about the switch-off but it had affected those who were going to work early in the morning.

"I think more than that it's the feel safe factor," he added.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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