Street light petition in Clevedon after crash death

Trooper Edward Heal, 19, was hit by a car on Kenn Road, Clevedon on Christmas Day

A petition to get overnight street lighting switched back on in Clevedon has been handed in.

About 800 people signed the document after soldier Edward Heal was killed in a road crash in the town in the early hours of Christmas Day.

Lights are switched off from midnight to 05:00 in some areas, to save money, North Somerset Council said.

The council said decisions to switch off street lights were carefully considered and investigated.

'Costing lives'

Petition organiser Carol Dyer said she hoped the council would "sit up and take notice that these supposedly cost-saving cuts could be costing lives".

"How much do they put on a human life?" she asked.

Trooper Heal, 19, was killed when he was hit by a car on Kenn Road.

He was a soldier in the King's Royal Hussars, based at the Tidworth Camp in Wiltshire, and was preparing for a tour of duty in Afghanistan in March.

He died on a section of road where street lights are turned off.

The council said that various organisations, including the emergency services, were consulted and it would not be appropriate to comment further until a police investigation had concluded.