In a year since south Essex was plunged into darkness in a highly controversial move, crime has not increased, the Echo can reveal.

Figures from an FOI to Essex Police show that reported crimes in Basildon, Rochford, and Castle Point have not spiked since Tories at Essex County Council took the unpopular decision to turn off 70 per cent of lamps in those areas.

But campaigners still believe the idea, designed to save £1.3million a year in Essex, has installed a culture of fear in the south of the county, with residents living under a midnight curfew.

The majority of lights go out between midnight and 5am, but a serious incident where a father, David Charles, 44, was run over and killed in the small hours in Cranes Farm Road, in Basildon, sparked calls to turn them back on.

Labour’s Andrew Gordon, who represents Nethermayne has campaigned against the lights going out since Basildon was subjected to a blackout in February, said: “People feel they are trapped in what is almost like a curfew.

“A young man lost his life because the lights were turned off and it makes me sad and angry that Essex County Council is so insistent with this policy.

“People are scared to go out at night and I can’t imagine the terror of being robbed and not being able to see your attacker.”

The Labour group in Basildon started collecting signatures calling for the lamps to be turned back on after a spate of car break-ins in the Lee Chapel area of Laindon, collecting 1,342 signatures so far.

County Hall has resisted turning the lights back on in the majority of the borough, but agreed to switch on the lights on Cranes Farm Road between 1am and 5am after the fatal November crash.

Lights in Rochford and Castle Point went off in January, with Basildon following suit a month later. For those three areas in November 2013, the number of reported crimes was 105, and it spiked to 148 a month later.

But in the immediate aftermath, crime actually decreased in those three places to 105 again in March.

Although the blackout was designed to save cash, County Hall actually won’t see any savings until 2020 as it had to shell out £6million to install sensors to turn them off.

 

'We still don't feel safe to go out late at night'

KELLY and George Phillips have had to reinforce their home after their front garden shed was looted in the pitch dark.

Crooks broke into their shed, in The Gore, Basildon – only a few days after the lights went out.

They had to buy extra locks for their shed and front door, plus lighting for outside the house.

Although they haven’t been targeted since, the couple say they are still anxious about going out after midnight and their neighbours have been targeted, too.

Mr Phillips, 49, said: “I don’t like going out after midnight. It’s dangerous out there and I’ve heard about a few people being attacked.

“There were also a few rapes in the area and they have happened because the lights have gone out.

“The council need to open their eyes and listen to the public. It’s not safe for people to go out any more.”

Echo:

 

'We are considering moving'

A COUPLE say they are considering moving as they are living in fear after suffering from two incidents since the lights went out.

Joseph and Sharron Magri, of Vowler Road, Langdon Hills, were faced with a £2,000 bill after yobs broke into their car in August and used it to ram into his taxi.

And just two weeks ago, crooks broke into their car again, stealing a sat nav – with both incidents happening when the lights were out.

The couple have now shelled out for a burglar alarm.

Mrs Magri, 55, said: “We have lived here since 1986 and nothing has ever happened to us until this August, after they had turned out the lights. I don’t know one person who thinks this is a good idea. We’re basically on an enforced curfew.

“It’s quite scary when the lights go out and I don’t feel safe anymore, so much so that we’re actually considering moving.”

 

County Hall's LED u-turn

TORIES at County Hall have U-turned and will install LED lamps, just six months after denouncing the technology.

In the summer, the authority told the Echo it would “not be economically viable” to introduce LED lighting, but it has since admitted it will pilot the lamps in Colchester, Maldon, Burnham, Saffron Walden, Dunmow Stansted Mountfitchet, and West Horndon, by the end of March.

The LED lamps will only replace the 30 per cent of lamps that are on all the time.

County Hall is following in the footsteps of Southend Council, which is updating all its lights to LED technology, a move which had cross-party support.

County council leader David Finch said: “We are trialling LED lighting in specific areas across the county, to assess their long term performance as this use for the technology is not yet tried and tested.”

The Echo asked whether the council has any plans for the six Basildon estates where the lights have been left on – Chalvedon, Pitsea’s 1,2,3 estate, Craylands, Felmores, Langdon Hills, and Five Links, but the council did not respond.