Some 4,000 streetlights in a London borough are due to be dimmed to save public money, in a move which has caused outrage at the “afterthought” of women’s safety.
The unpopular move is set to be made by Havering London Borough Council (HLBC) who announced the plans to save cash in a bid to plug a £32.5 million budget deficit.
The lights will be lowered from midnight until 5am on main roads as part of a drive by the council to avoid bankruptcy.
The money-saving measures are projected to save the council £81.9 million over four years and is, according to HLBC, part of its “toughest budget ever”.
However, campaigners from Our Streets Now – a group battling to end public harassment of women and girls – claimed HLBC was treating female safety as an “afterthought”.
A spokesperson for the group told the Telegraph: “It’s disappointing, but unsurprising, to hear that women’s safety has been an afterthought in plans to cut costs.
“We know from research, from our members, and from the experiences of women and girls up and down the country that low and no street lighting poses a risk to their safety.”
According to MailOnline, Councillor Ray Morgon, Leader of HLBC, said: “We fully recognise the worries around safety and this is why, in our budget savings, we are only proposing plans to dim the street lights on our main roads between 12am and 5am.
“Street lighting on residential roads would remain on full power and brightness. This has been consulted on as part of the budget consultation where nearly 4,000 people responded.
“With regards to the question around dimming lights, the majority of respondents to that question felt the street lighting proposals would have little or no impact on either them personally (59 per cent) or the community (42 per cent).”
He added: “Indeed some respondents felt the proposals would have a positive impact on themselves (24 per cent) and on the community (29 per cent) than a negative impact.
“There has some concern expressed during consultation that this may lead to an increase in some crime but Officers who have been involved in similar schemes in other boroughs found no evidence of this.
“We will of course consult with the police and relevant partners to ensure lighting that supports CCTV provision is not compromised.”
