THE mystery of why lamp posts are being chopped down has left residents...in the dark.

The area has already seen the Laindon Chainsaw Massacre – when 100 trees in Five Links were felled – but now it appears the borough’s street lights are the latest objects for the chop.

In Basildon and Castle Point, 49 lamp posts have been chopped down in the last few weeks.

The normally tall poles, which provide lighting, have been hacked down, leaving unsightly and “unsafe” stumps in their wake.

The move has left residents and councillors perplexed.

David Abrahall, Tory ward councillor for Pitsea South East, said his partner, Dawn Schulz, nearly fell over after a street light had been reduced to a stump in an alley running between Fieldway and Mountfields in Pitsea Mount. The alley is now without any lighting.

Mr Abrahall is demanding answers from Essex County Council about the reason behind the lamp post cull, which he says has left “unsightly and dangerous” stumps across the two boroughs.

He said: “I know Essex County Council has had plans to switch the street lights off – which I have always been opposed to – but this seems to be a way of doing that possibly by the back door.

“The stump in the alleyway in Pitsea Mount is not only dangerous, but now you literally cannot see anything at night, as the alley is pitch black. I have noticed these stumps all over the borough, but the problem with Basildon is it has lots of housing estates which have alleyways. If you start cutting the lights down, it will get very dangerous.”

A spokeswoman for Essex County Council said 49 out of 31,206 street lamps in Basildon and Castle Point have been cut down as they were unsafe.

She said: “Essex County Council has reduced the height of a number of street light columns in the Basildon and Castle Point districts which were identified during routine structural and electrical testing as being structurally unsafe.

“To prevent the risk of collapse, and ensure the highway remained safe for pedestrians and motorists, the decision was taken to ‘cut and cap’ the columns.

“They will all be replaced in due course. This is not in any way connected to the Essex County Council initiative to roll out part-night lighting across Essex.”