Last updated at 12:12, Thursday, 30 August 2012

STREET lights across Cumbria are about to be dimmed by 25 per cent as a major cost-cutting measure is phased in.

Cumbria County Council has launched the controversial money-saving scheme on several major routes into Carlisle and plans to extend the scheme to other areas of the county.

Dimmers have been set up to lower the lights by 25 per cent between 10pm and 6am.

The council says it will bring cost and energy savings of around 20 per cent, but critics argue it could be unsafe for road users and increase crime.

Kevin Clinton, the head of road safety for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said he hoped plans to extend the scheme did not go ahead.

“If it does, and there is any evidence that it has proven to be detrimental to road safety, [I would hope] that the decision would be reconsidered,” he said.

“Street lighting improves safety for drivers, riders and pedestrians.

“Driving outside of daylight hours is more dangerous and pedestrians and vulnerable road users suffer from decreased visibility in the dark also.

“The presence of lighting not only reduces the risk of traffic accidents, but also their severity.”

A spokeswoman for the county council said they had been testing the scheme in Carlisle over the summer and, “from the end of the summer, other areas of the county will be running various schemes”.

She said they had been preparing street lamps to accommodate dimming and “Penrith is likely to be next to receive dimmers in the coming weeks”.

She said the dimming schemes would take place on a “select group of lamps rather than all lamps in the district”.

She said that street light dimming would actually be “less of a safety issue” on well-used main roads than on quiet cul-de-sacs.

Cumbria Police will monitor the areas the dimmers are in place.

If there is any increase in crime or disorder, “appropriate steps will be taken” they said.

A police spokeswoman said: “Where this initiative has been implemented in other areas of the country, there appears to have been no significant increase in crime and anti-social behaviour, which we hope will be the case in Carlisle, but emphasise steps will be taken if there is any cause for concern.”

First published at 11:10, Thursday, 30 August 2012
Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk