PLANS to dim street lights or switch them off overnight will be scrutinised by councillors.

As we reported in February, Worcestershire county council is currently looking at ways to save on the £2 million a year it spends on energy bills for 60,000 lights.

Options under consideration are dimming lights, switching off between midnight and 5.30am, permanently switching some lights off and changing to more efficient lights such as LED.

Members of the council’s overview and scrutiny performance board agreed councillors should go ahead with a scrutiny of the issue.

The council is responsible for 52,000 street lights and 8,000 illuminated road signs but energy costs are rising and the lights account for 21 per cent of the council’s CO2 emissions.

Councillor Ken Pollack said there were multiple aspects to be investigated including how energy companies charged for bills and how much the council was asking people for their opinions on the switch-off as well as the options under discussion.

He said any decision should be taken based on the needs of individual communities.

He said: “I live in a village where we don’t want street lights.

“There are other people used to street lights who will need to be conviced they will be safe if they are switched off.”

The board also discussed safety concerns if lights were switched off on roads at night.

Coun Pollack said: “The concept of accidents makes you treat these lights more seriously than others but some absolutely stupid policeman said to us it’s helpful if you have lights on when we have to attend an accident.

“That’s not a good enough criteria.”

The board agreed the scrutiny should go ahead with councillors reporting back by the end of the year so their findings could be considered before the next budget decisions.