Leicestershire street light maintenance cut

Maintenance of Leicestershire's street lights is to be reduced to save up to £70,000.

Patrols will only be sent to check rural lights once a month, instead of the current fortnightly inspection.

And the time limit for completing repairs is to be extended from three to five days.

Officials said such repairs had been earmarked for savings in consultations and the changes would be within national safety guidelines.

There would be no change to the two-week patrol frequency in market towns and urban areas, they said.

Funding cuts

Lesley Pendleton, county council cabinet member for environment and transport, said: "The economic situation means that we're faced with tough decisions and like every council in the UK, we are having to find ways of doing more with less.

"Street light maintenance was identified by residents as an area where less should be spent and so, by bringing the county in line with neighbouring authorities, we could reduce current costs by £70,000 each year."

The move is on top of an estimated £700,000 annual savings to be made by 2014 through switching off and dimming street lights.

The council's Labour opposition group said savings on lighting and maintenance were inevitable given cuts in central funding but the Conservative leadership would be held to account "if the sums did not add up".