A LEADING academic researcher is warning councils not to switch off streetlights as they can reduce fatal road crashes by 77 per cent.

Torfaen council has entered its final week of a controversial consultation process regarding plans to switch-off half the borough’s street lights to save money.

However the lead researcher of the Institute of Health and Society at the University of Newcastle, Fiona Beyer, carried out a study into the effects street lighting has on road safety, by pooling data from 14 different studies.

She found that street lighting reduced total crashes by between 32 per cent and 55 per cent, and fatal injury crashes by 77 per cent.

“Darkness is a risk factor and street lighting is therefore a valuable tool,” Ms Beyer said.

“An increasing number of local councils are looking to turn off some public street lighting in a move to reduce costs and carbon emissions. “The potential adverse road safety impact of such a policy should be carefully considered in light of our findings.”

Torfaen council announced in October last year, that it needed to reduce its lighting power bill by 50 per cent due to financial constraints.

The council plans to install timer switches on street lights in the borough.

This move would see 4,600 lights switched off between midnight and 5.30am.

Other suggestions include switching off 1,800 street lights along A and B roads and decommissioning around 4,140 or one in three in some residential areas.

Under the proposals, main junctions and roundabouts would still be illuminated.

The package of measures would save around £450,000 a year but no final decision will be made until after the consultation exercise ends.

The council says the spiralling cost of powering the lights, along with a lower than inflation settlement from the Assembly and other budgetary pressures has forced it to cut its lighting power by half.