Street lights in Stamford, Bourne, Boston and Spalding go LED - but thousands will be turned off all together

In light of ongoing funding cuts, Lincolnshire County Council is looking to save £1.7m from its annual £5m street lighting budget. This will be achieved through the following measures, which will be introduced countywide:

* 7,000 of the county’s 68,000 lights will be swapped for low-energy LED ones which can be dimmed

* ‘Part-night’ lighting is being introduced in certain, mostly residential, areas, where lights will turn on at dusk and remain on until midnight. Lights will then be switched off until 6am. This will affect 38,000 street lights

* Up to 3,000 street lights, away from built up areas, have been identified for possible switch off, subject to further assessments

The changes are taking place across the county in phases between April 2016 and March 2017, with the work that has already taken place equating to savings of over £500,000 per year.

The council is now focusing phases six, seven and eight, which will affect areas in and around the following locations:

Phase 6 – Bourne, Stamford, Colsterworth (Oct – Nov)

Phase 7 – Spalding, Holbeach, The Deepings (Oct – Dec)

Phase 8 – Boston, Gosberton, Sutton St James (Nov – Jan)

Cllr Richard Davies, Executive Member for Highways and Transport, said: “The council’s budget has been cut by more than £100m over the last few years, and we have a further estimated budget shortfall of £57m for next 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.

“The evidence shows that, by turning these lights off at times when there is less traffic, we can save money without affecting the majority of road users. And by saving money in this way, we can protect other vital areas, like the pothole budget.

“Of course, public safety remains an overriding concern, so at every location, we’ll give careful consideration to the effects of any reduction in lighting. In some places, changes won’t be appropriate, so we’ll keep things as they are.”