WORK to replace more than 27,000 Wirral streetlights with energy-saving LED lanterns is nearing completion.

A report to the council's environment, transport and climate emergency committee this month will set out the progress on the scheme to date and provide updates about reductions in costs and carbon emissions the replacement of the lights is achieving.

Nearly all the scheduled work is due for completion by the end of this year.

As well as the upgrade to the lanterns themselves, more than 9,000 old streetlight columns have been replaced too as part of this work, which has been carried out under contract by SSE, the authority's contractors for the LED Replacement project.

By the time The LED Replacement Programme ends:

•27,565 lanterns and 9,884 columns will have been replaced

•1,423 tonnes of carbon emissions will have been avoided between 2019 and 2021 as a result of the programme

•7,700 tonnes of carbon emissions will have been avoided by 2030 as a result of the programme, compared with the emissions that would have been produced by the previous lantern types

Cllr Liz Grey, chair of Wirral's environment, climate emergency and transport committee, said: "We are making some real progress with our climate emergency agenda, which includes making our streetlights more energy efficient and ultimately, more suitable for the far more environmentally-friendly future we want for the borough.

"The committee is looking forward to hearing an update on how the LED Replacement scheme has progressed this year.

"If we can continue to make such significant changes to our infrastructure then there is more potential for the council, and for Wirral as a whole, to reduce pollution by living and working in a more climate conscious way.”