Plans to dim street lights earlier across Leicestershire

County Hall will start the trial cost-cutting measure across the county from February.

Cabinet members decided to dim street lights to 30 per cent of their possible brightness from 8pm rather than the current 10pm.

There will be an 18-month trial of the scheme with constant checks being made by police on the impact of the change.

The move comes as the county council faces its most challenging financial picture ever.

Some £36 million of general budget cuts have been identified for the next four years, but £85 million more must be found if the council hopes to stay afloat.

However, the news of the trial is likely to cause concerns for residents throughout the county.

The results of a consultation into the proposal show that 40 per cent of residents strongly disagree with the plan, while a further 13 per cent ‘tend to disagree’.

In contrast, 29 per cent strongly agreed with the plan and 14 per cent “tend to agree”.

Of the 53 per cent of residents against the proposal, 22 per cent said their main reason for that stance was fear of crime and 17 per cent flagged general vulnerability as a concern.

Saving money and environmental reasons were given as key deciding factors by those in favour of the scheme.

– 13 and 12 per cent respectively. Some 705 responses to the question of whether residents agreed with the plan and why were given, a council report shows.

There will be some exemptions to the earlier dimming of the lights which means this scheme would cut around £380,000 from their spending.

These excluded areas would include zebra crossings, vertical traffic calming features such as speed bumps, and steps that are currently covered by lighting.

Town centres will also be exempt, but the exact area of that coverage is still to be determined, the report said.

The council said Leicestershire Police, East Midlands Ambulance Service and Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service have raised no objection to the plan.

Lead member for transport and highways, Councillor Ozzy O’Shea, previously said: “I have been on streets where the 30 per cent is actually in at the present time and I must be honest with you, I don’t see a lot of difference at all, if any.”

He added: "We’re doing the right thing here. We’re trying to save money because we’re a lower-funded council. We’ve been put in this position by the government. We don’t want to cut anything in this council."

The council currently maintains approximately 69,600 street lights in Leicestershire.

There is no legal duty on the council to provide street lights, the authority added.

However, once it is provided, the council does have a duty to maintain the system in a safe condition. If the council fails to do this and danger is created on the highways, it could be held liable.

The authority also has a responsibility to ‘do all that it reasonably can to prevent crime and disorder in its area’.