SO after the trials and all the talking, it seems it will soon be lights out across the county.

This week Essex County Council decided it would push ahead with plans to turn off 70 per cent of the county’s street lights between midnight and 5am, saving £14million in electricity bills and cutting carbon emissions Lights in town centres and at major junctions will stay on.

The lights will stay on in the Thurrock and Southend areas, which come under unitary authorities.

Some residents and councillors are convinced switching street lights off is a bad idea.

They are worried about the impact a blackout could have on crime and community safety.

The opposition has brought together rival parties from across the county.

Lynda Gordon, leader of the Basildon Labour group, said: “I think for Basildon it is an unacceptable idea. There will be a safety impact, which is what residents are worried about.

“It has been proven keeping lights on it reduces crime, especially in the estates we have in Basildon.

“For this area the idea is unacceptable and ridiculous.”

The arguments only slightly alter in other parts of the county. Mark Cory, Liberal Democrat councillor for Wivenhoe Cross, said: “I think there are much better ways of saving energy, such as lower watt bulbs, without having to plunge the whole of rural Essex into darkness.

“I think it will also make people feel less safe. In my opinion it just increases the potential for crime and accidents.”

The woman behind the proposals, Tracey Chapman, Essex County Council’s Tory councillor responsible for street lights, said people’s fears were unfounded.

She said a trial of part-time lighting in Uttlesford and Maldon had seen crime fall during the light switch-off.

In Maldon, offences between 11.30pm and 5.30am dropped by 14 per cent, while offences dropped by 12.6 per cent in Uttlesford.

Mrs Chapman, who announced the proposals at County Hall, said: “Many people are worried about crime statistics going up, but we have seen from the trials we have had in Maldon and Uttlesford that crime statistics did not jump. I hope having these trials already will put people at ease.”

She added other authorities which run part-night street lighting trials, including Devon, Gloucestershire and Leicestershire, reported reductions in reported crimes.

Her claims were backed up by the police. An Essex Police spokesman said: “So far, the reduction in street lighting has not led to any noticable increase in crime.

“We will monitor the consequences of any changes in the patterns of street lighting, for any impact on both crime and people’s fear of crime.”

Currently the county’s 120,000 lights are controlled by sensors, which turn on when light levels drop below a certain level.