Dimmed lights seen as bright idea

The new lights at Cross Tree Lane at night

A council is trialling a new type of street light which is automatically dimmed after midnight.

The lights fitted in two Flintshire roads provide a white light and are designed to minimise upward light pollution.

Sixty four have been installed in Hawarden and Pentre Halkyn, adding to the county's 19,000 standard street lights.

Flintshire council wants to hear people's thoughts on the new lights.

In particular, they would like to hear from people who have driven through the trial sites at night.

The lights in Milwr Road, Pentre Halkyn and Cross Tree Lane, Hawarden, are more expensive than the ones they have replaced but are said to produce adequate lighting even when dimmed.

His is a far better system than switching lights off as the safety of people and their property is of paramount importance Councillor Tony Sharps

Dave Faulkner, the council's head of highways and transportation, said: "Although these new lights are slightly more costly than those we have been using for a number of years, there is a relatively quick payback due to the energy savings.

"The reduced CO2 emissions and light pollution are a real bonus, and the resultant white light makes the whole environment safer."

Councillor Tony Sharps, the council's executive member for environment, said: "This is a far better system than switching lights off as the safety of people and their property is of paramount importance".

Other trial sites are planned this year.

It comes after some councils decided to turn some of their street lights off to save money and their carbon footprints.

In Torfaen, for example, over 8,500 lights are bring turned off this month in residential areas from April because of financial pressures on the local authority.

And rocketing energy costs forced officials in Powys to turn off more than half of the council's 14,000 lights to save £225,000 last year - a move criticised by many residents.