STREET lights on some of Wirral’s key routes are set to be turned off as the council makes its latest raft of cuts.

The ruling Labour group says the highly-controversial move will save £83,000 this year.

A string of non-residential and pedestrian-only roads will be left in the dark for all or part of the night while some industrial access roads will also be included in the changes.

The move will also see the local authority saving £30,000 by stopping night-time inspections of street lights and officers have called for the public’s help to tell them if a light needs repairing or replacing.

Labour says the switch-off is down to Government cuts - the town hall's budget is being reduced by £109m over the next three years.

But Conservatives argue the decision has been made at local level and believe there are other ways to save money.

Council bosses say lights will only be switched off in areas where they are not needed to assist people in residential areas.

Where street lights are controlled by the central management system, these will be dimmed slightly for periods overnight, rather than completely switched off.

Councillor Harry Smith, cabinet member for highways and transportation, blamed Coalition cuts for the new plans.

He said: “This reduction in lighting and inspections is down to a lack of funds resulting from severe Government cuts to Wirral.

"They have taken out £109m from our budget and this means that services can no longer be maintained like they used to.

“The major impact of the change is that we will now be relying on members of the public to let us know about faulty street lights as soon as they are aware of them, rather than us going out and finding them as we did previously.

“We would be interested in engaging neighbourhood watch groups or other community groups to help us with this.

"They are the eyes and ears of neighbourhoods, they would be in an ideal position to spot when one of the street lights in their area isn’t functioning properly.”

Tory group leader Cllr Jeff Green said: "We all know savings must be made after the last Labour Government spent all the country's money.

"However it is a matter of choice for the ruling administration to turn off Wirral's street lights.

"At the same time, they're quite happy to continue having full-time trade union officials on the council's payroll.

"They cannot use the requirement to make savings as a mask to disguise their own ideological priorities."

 

The roads to be affected are as follows:

Pedestrian-Only Sites:

Ian Fraser Walk

Scotts Field Walkway

Morpeth Dock Walkway

Egerton Dock Walkway

North Parade

Alabama Way

Rose Brae Walkway

Carr Bridge Road Cycle Path

Woodside Walkway

Yew Tree Park

Carr Bridge Road Footpath 

New Hey Road Footpath

Seacombe to Egremont Promenade

Egremont to Tower Promenade

Non-Residential Roads:

Saughall Massie By-Pass

New Ferry By-Pass

Fender Lane

Bidston Link Road

North Wallasey Approach

North Wallasey Approach

 Docks Link

North Docks Link

South Kings Parade 

Industrial Access Roads:

Campbell Town Road

Plantation Road

Power Road

Riverbank Road

Riverwood Road

Riverview Road

Commercial Road

Stadium Road

Thursby Road

Martindale Road

Bassendale Road

Skiddaw Road

Thermal Road Old Hall Road

Morpeth Wharf