Lampposts move angers residents

The cast iron lamps will be replaced with modern heritage-style lighting

A decision to move antique lampposts in west London has been criticised as "pointless and a waste of money".

The cast iron lights in Hanwell are being relocated to a new Heritage Quarter in nearby Northfields and replaced with imitation lamps.

Residents claim removing the Victorian lampposts will ruin the character of their streets.

But Ealing Council said it was about preserving the area's heritage and boosting visitor numbers.

Residents staged a protest on Monday as work began to rip out the lamps from a number of streets.

Resident Philip Jackson said: "They know full well if we had been consulted there would have been an outcry and that's why these people [were] demonstrating."

Councillor Jason Stacey, leader of Ealing Council, said: "What can we do with this heritage lighting? Have a bit of an area where we can actually say this is something about our history without it being dotted around in individual places."

The new Heritage Quarter covers the area from Pitzhanger Manor House and Gallery and Ealing Studios to the roads around Northfields Avenue shopping area.