AN IRATE Worcester man has hit out at Worcestershire County Council over a faulty street light left on 24 hours a day in the city which he says it has taken three months to fix.

Retired 67-year-old Robert Clark, of Cope Road, Perdiswell, said he had reported a number of lights on in the city during the daylight hours in July.

We reported then how he had noticed one light in particular by the viaduct in Hylton Road, which was fixed shortly afterwards.

But he said he reported another in Cope Road at the same time and it was only put out last week after he called Worcester City Council leader Simon Geraghty to complain it was still on.

Now the pensioner has said he has since spotted further lights on throughout the day on Chestnut Walk in the city centre, and on Bilford Road at the junction with Droitwich Road.

He said: "I think it's disgusting and a complete and utter waste of money. Council tax is going up all the time and it seems like that is what we are paying for."

Mr Clarke's initial complaint in July about street lights being left on came after we reported then that the county council was considering a mass switch-off of lighting in certain areas between 11pm and 5am to save money.

The proposal would be implemented some time next year if the technology allowed and could save the taxpayer £300,000 a year.

Worcestershire County Council's senior lighting engineer Derek Powell said the problem of lights being on during the day was caused by a fault in the light-sensitive sensor which triggered it to go on and off.

However, he said the Hylton Road light had been fixed straight away but disputed the Cope Road one had been reported at the same time.

He added: "Our investigations over faulty lights are carried out during dark for obvious reasons so we identify lighting that's out.

"During the day we rely on people reporting them or our council inspectors seeing them by chance so if people tell us about them we will attend to them."

Anyone wanting to report any street lights on during the daytime can contact county council's freephone Light Out line on 0800 137 352. Alternatively log on to www.worcestershire.whub. org.uk