Changes proposed to how often Preston’s street lights are checked

A street lamp burning bright near St Walburge's church Pic: Paul Melling — A street lamp burning bright near St Walburge’s church Pic: Paul Melling

Routine testing of street lights and when they are carried out is due to be cut back.

Lancashire County Council says newer LED lamps means they don’t need the levels of inspection compared to its older sodium lights.

Councillors say they could save £2.1million over the next two years from their street light maintenance budget by making changes.

The proposals would see routine night-time inspections scrapped and routine tests would happen every 10 years instead of every five years.

Currently the council carries out routine inspections to street lights and illuminated signs and bollards once every fortnight between October and March and once every month for the rest of the year.

The county council says it will keep its pledge to respond to members of the public about a street light being out within five days.

A report to the county council’s cabinet outlines how 11 full-time roles would be lost by the changes.

At the moment 103,000 of the county’s 151,000 street lights has been upgraded to be LED and all of them are due to be upgraded by 2021.

Cabinet member for highways and transport county councillor Keith Iddon said: “Like many councils, we are facing an extremely challenging financial position, with a forecasted funding gap of £144m in 2021/22.

“We’re committed to providing the best services we can, and particularly to protecting services for our most vulnerable people, which is why we’re looking to save money by making services more efficient wherever possible.

“We’re proposing to change the way we maintain street lights due to LED lamps being much more reliable than the traditional sodium type, responding to any faults reactively rather than carrying out regular night-time inspections.

“However, we want to make sure we’ve considered all the potential impacts, and give people the chance to tell us if they think this will affect them, before making a decision.”

The consultation is running from Monday 23 April to Sunday 17 June and you can let the council know your views.

How do I report a faulty street light?

For a flickering street light or one that’s gone out, you can use the county council’s report it tool.

What do you think of the proposal? Do you think street lamps are important? Should they be checked regularly? Let us know your views on the comments below