Sarah Everard case fuels Lincolnshire street lights petition surge

Anna Kincaid said the "recent tragic events" meant the number of signatories had surged from 2,000 to nearly 4,000 earlier this week

A petition calling for street lights in Lincolnshire to be switched back on at night has doubled in two days, organisers said.

Campaigner Anna Kincaid, 21, said there was "an upsurge in signatures" in the last few days following the death of Sarah Everard.

More than 4,300 people have signed the petition, which launched in September.

In 2016, the county council turned off more than half of its 68,000 street lights in a bid to save £1.77m.

The University of Lincoln student, from Rotherham, said street lights were a "basic necessity" in safety.

"When the lights are off you can't see anything. You don't know who is waiting down the street, what is there, what you're walking into every time you go somewhere.

"The events unfolding with Sarah Everard's death are so, so heartbreaking and it's really tragic. It's really affected a lot of people all over the country and I think that sort of brought the whole petition to light again," said Ms Kincaid.

"People have been asking for change in Lincolnshire since the lights were turned off and in light of what's happened, it shows that now more than ever that the lights should be on and that there should be safer streets for people."

Lincolnshire County Council turned off more than half of its 68,000 street lights in a bid to save £1.77m

Ms Kincaid said the "recent tragic events" meant the number of signatories had surged from 2,000 to nearly 4,000 earlier this week. The target is 5,000 signatures.

Karen Cassar, the authority's assistant director for highways, said women's safety was "about much more than streetlights" and lighting had "no impact on night-time crime levels".

"I can completely understand why some residents, especially women, might feel concerned for their own safety after Sarah Everard's tragic disappearance in London," said Ms Cassar.

She said local parish, town or district councils were allowed to apply for street lights to stay on all night "for a one-off payment, if they think it's appropriate" and so far "only four lights" had been switched back on.

"In 2018, two years after we made the switch to part-night lighting for some of our lights, the police confirmed they'd found no impact on night-time crime levels as a result of the change.

"They said then, and have said since, that if they ever did have any concerns, they'd let us know and of course we'd work with them to see how street lighting could help."

Miss Kincaid: "People have been asking for change in Lincolnshire since the lights were turned off"

Ms Kincaid said her comments were "insensitive given everything that's happened lately".

"It's important to remember that recorded crime isn't the same as actual crime. A lot of the time when people are [offended against] they don't speak up."

Lincolnshire Police have been approached for a comment.