Newport housing estate lit up after two years

Street lights at the residents' car park on The Smithfields in Newport – which is not an adopted road – have not worked for several years.

But now they are back on after Newport Town Council decided, on "moral grounds", to fund a one-off repair of up to £500 of the three faulty lights.

Councillor Peter Scott said: "For about two years now it has been dangerous for children, single mothers and others who have to get out of their cars in the pitch black.

Messages

"The residents felt like no one seemed to be interested in it but the town council considered it on a moral responsibility basis.

"I talked to a lot of the residents and they gave me their messages and comments and said how they felt so we discussed it with the community safety committee and they felt it was the right thing to do to get the lights back on.

"We are fixing them and giving the people of the street enough time to sort out a maintenance contract so they can be dealt with quicker in the future.

"If they are still having problems they can speak to us," he added.

The town council's community safety committee has also decided that the authority should take on future responsibility for looking after 11 lights in the town's Victoria Park.