Street lights dimmed to save councils cash

Street lights are being dimmed after midnight as councils battle to save money, it can be revealed today.

Wolverhampton and Walsall councils have both tried turning down lights and the idea is also being considered in Staffordshire. On the Rakegate estate in Wolverhampton, 112 lights are being turned down to just 40 per cent of their full power between midnight and 6am.

And in Walsall last year the council dimmed the lights on Aldridge Road between the Dilke island and the Peugeot island on the A453 between midnight and 5am, but gave up after a month. The Wolverhampton pilot scheme was launched without any announcement in March 2010. The new LED lights were funded by a Government grant but there are no plans at present to install them elsewhere.

Steve Woodward, Wolverhampton's head of street scene services, said: "We estimate it has reduced energy consumption and carbon emissions by up to 68 per cent compared to the traditional way the streets were lit."