Darkness may fall as council saves cash

Members of North Yorkshire County Council’s executive have voted in favour of switching street lights off at night in an attempt to reduce the £1.7m annual cost of illuminating England’s largest county by £400,000.

The A63 Selby Bypass will be the first road where the new plan is implemented, with lights switched off between midnight and 5am.

The county council has also announced a full review of all 48,000 of its street lights will now be undertaken.

The proposals could eventually see almost two thirds of North Yorkshire County Council’s street lights switched off for part of the night.

With crime in North Yorkshire on the rise for the first time in seven years, the decision is expected to prove deeply controversial in some areas.

But members have stressed that no lights will be affected where road safety, crime, or anti-social behaviour is an issue.

Coun Gareth Dadd, executive member for highways and planning services, said: “It is important that the police and the local parish or town councils are involved in the assessment process to ensure that only non-essential street lights are removed or switched off for part of the night.”

The county council, which is battling to make £69m in savings over the next four years, has pledged that full consultations will be carried out with the local communities involved before any final decisions are taken.

It is anticipated that the four year plan, drawn up by a working group of the Transport, Economy and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee, would lead to a 20 per cent reduction in North Yorkshire’s street lighting carbon footprint by the end of 2015.

The county council oversees 5,500 miles of highways – the largest road network in England.