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
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