Council says light dimming trial saved nearly £540k

As part of the trial, most street lights in Leicestershire were dimmed to 30% brightness between 20:00 and 07:00

A trial that saw most street lights in Leicestershire dimmed overnight could be made permanent after the county council said it saved the authority nearly £540,000.

In the 18-month pilot, Leicestershire County Council dimmed most of its lights to 30% brightness between 20:00 and 07:00 from January last year to June this year.

The authority said its cabinet would now consider adopting the scheme permanently, after it revealed it saved enough energy to power up to 500 homes for a year.

Councillor Charles Whitford, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "We know people had some concerns ahead of this trial, but the data has shown some promising results."

"We will of course keep listening to residents, working with communities and looking at the evidence available when making decisions about street lighting," he added.

During the trial, the council said the majority of its 70,000-plus street lights were dimmed, but no changes were made to lighting levels in town centres, at zebra crossings, and in areas with known safety concerns.

The council said it had not received any formal complaints about the scheme and studies showed there was an overall fall in overnight accidents in 2024, compared to the previous year.

Councillors at the cabinet meeting will discuss whether to make the trial permanent on Friday 12 September.