Residents celebrate streetlight switch-on

Residents in a Powys community were celebrating today after their streetlights were switched back on thanks to the generosity of one villager.

Mike Atherton, of Llangynog, near Oswestry, paid almost £300 out of his own pocket to get his village switched back on after Powys County Council turned the lights off in a bid to save money.

To celebrate the occasion, Mr Atherton, 60, hosted a party at the village's New Inn yesterday.

He said: "I am absolutely delighted the lights have now been switched back on and I hope it will make the council see sense and eventually get the decision reversed.

"The lights actually came back on on Tuesday, but I decided to hold the party yesterday, just in case anything had slowed down the process."

Mr Atherton said he was concerned residents were being trapped in their homes once darkness fell because of worries about their personal safety. He said he felt compelled to pay for them to be switched back on with his own money.

A total of 9,000 lights have been turned off by the council in a bid to save £225,000 and reduce the authority's carbon footprint.

But the move to turn off two out of three streetlights has come under criticism from councillors, politicians and residents, who feel public safety is being put at risk.Carol Edwards, from Llangynog, said: "I am absolutely disgusted the council turned off the streetlights and I don't see why Mr Atherton should have had to pay to get them switched back on,"

"But our thanks go out to him, because if it wasn't for him we'd still be stood in darkness today."

Trevor Foster, of Llangynog Community Council, said he believed the county council had been totally irresponsible in switching so many lights off.

"The decision is causing a severe threat to public safety," he said. "We had no prior warning our village lights were going to be switched off, so when it happened we were all left in complete shock."

Hywel Morris, a farmer from Llangynog, said he was delighted the streetlights in the village had been switched back on.

"It's great news for the community, because people were starting to worry about their safety," he said.

'I still don't think anyone should have to pay out of their own pocket to get lights switched back on though. We all pay council tax and it should be the councils' duty to provide us with street lights."

Powys County Council is now in the process of conducting a full review of the process and the impact of the initiative across the county.