Petition to re-light Oswestry gains support

The online petition was set up by residents in Oswestry after the town council, in conjunction with Shropshire Council, made the decision to turn off the lights to save costs.

People who have signed the Re-light Oswestry Post Midnight petition have cited concerns over crime as the main reason the lights should be put back on. Tracy Richards said: "I feel that the council is giving the opportunist thief a very good advantage"

Robert Duncan added "How could the council put people in danger to save money, only an insane person would think up something as daft as that."

Changes were made to Oswestry's lighting in April as part of a county-wide programme by Shropshire Council which is known as "part-night lighting" and sees lights turned off between midnight and 5.30am to cut carbon and reduce energy bills.

About 12,500 street lights of the 18,900 maintained by Shropshire Council across the county are being converted to part-night lighting.

At the time, the town council said the aim of the move was to cut carbon and reduce energy bills by about 20 per cent.

Graphic design student Jordan Bradbury, 18, who started the petition said she hoped it would prompt the town council to discuss street lighting again. "Only five people have formally complained so far and apparently because of that the council isn't willing to listen to the worries of the people," she said. "If we can get people to sign this petition then it may not be able to ignore public concern any further."

Oswestry town councillor Rebecca Evans also joined the calls, claiming a number of her elderly neighbours now felt like they were living under a curfew because they were too nervous to go out when the lights were off.

She said: "It's had an impact on people's freedom. I even had a 21-year-old lad tell me he stayed on the phone to a friend while walking home one night because he felt jittery."

The petition can be found at www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/relightoswestry

Last month the programme moved to north Shropshire, where towns and villages affected included Adderley, Calverhall, Cheswardine, Childs Ercall, Hadnall, Hinstock, Ightfield, Market Drayton, Norton-in-Hales, Prees, Prees Higher Heath, Shawbury, Stoke-upon-Tern, Wem, Whitchurch and Woore.