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Street lighting
Do you have any problems with a street lamp or illuminated traffic sign?
For emergency street lighting faults:
- exposed cables
- street light or illuminated sign that has been knocked down or has something hanging loose
- a door missing.
please report it immediately
Contact Call Derbyshire on 08 456 058 058 between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday, and between 9:30am and 4pm Saturday.
telephone the Derbyshire Constabulary on 0845 123 3333 outside the hours listed above.
Please provide us with as much information as possible on the location of the fault so that we can rectify the problem quickly.
Never attempt to help by covering up or touching the wiring as you could electrocute yourself.
To report all other street lighting or illuminated traffic sign faults:
Call Derbyshire on 08 456 058 058
or fill in our online fault reporting form
If you have your enquiry number, issued by the online fault reporting system, you can track progress on our online tracking form.
Each lamp and illuminated sign has a unique identification number stenciled on it, so when reporting a fault or other problem it helps us if you can quote the identification number and also provide important details as per the example below.
Information example
- Lamp (or illuminated sign) number 123456
- Town, Parish, or locality Heanor, Barlow, Aldercar
- Street (or footpath from/to) Newbold Road
- Location Outside number 30, between number 38/40, opposite number 23
- Problem Lamp out, or dim etc
If you are unable to provide all of these details then every effort will be made to identify the correct lamp or illuminated sign. Any detail given enables us to give the best possible service and keep our costs to a minimum.
The Service
The service provides the following;
- Fortnightly 'outage' inspection of all lighting columns
- On a three (or four) yearly cycle replace lamps (sometimes called bulbs) before the end of their useful life
- Carry out an electrical inspection and test within six years
- Carry out visual inspections of the lighting columns every six years
- To repair a faulty lamp before the next patrol visit, providing it is within our control.
Service Profile
The community in Derbyshire benefits from street lighting through a reduction in crime, disorder (including antisocial behaviour), fear of crime, and the reduction of night time accidents.
We are responsible for all lighting on roads, footpaths, major roads and some dual carriageways that are owned and maintained by us (these are called adopted roads).
Lighting on Motorways and Trunk roads is maintained by the Highways Agency.
District, borough councils and housing associations own the lighting in their own car parks and housing areas.
Why is lighting provided?
Street Lighting reduces night time accidents and helps to reduce crime. It also helps to reduce the fear of crime and perceived risks of crime.
It deters criminal acts and vandalism.
Social life is increased by enhancing the night time environment.
It provides a positive aid to commercial, leisure and tourism activities and can increase pedestrian movement during the hours of darkness.
Where is new lighting installed?
Lighting can be installed as a safety measure on roads where there is a need to reduce night time accidents and in conjunction with traffic safety measures.
Lighting is installed on new housing estates where the streets (or footpaths) are being adopted by the us.
Developers (sometimes called builders) will have to install lighting in accordance with our requirements and are responsible for maintenance until formal adoption takes place. This can be carried out in parts or with full roads on the development and can take some time before the developer is ready to ask us to adopt. Once it is accepted that the installation complies, the County Council will take on full responsibility for future maintenance.
District, borough and parish councils have powers to install lighting within their own administrative areas by agreement with us.
How are lights maintained?
All lights are usually visited at least every three years (four years for some lamps) for routine maintenance work. This process entails cleaning the lantern optics and changing the lamps.
Electrical inspection and tests together with visual structural inspections are carried out in accordance with the appropriate guidance but within 6 years. Lamps that fail before the change frequency have a guarantee and costs are recovered from the manufacturer.
Faults are mainly detected through two weekly patrols and reports from the public. They are scheduled for repair before the next patrol. Sometimes the fault can be due to a problem on the local electricity company's service connection resulting in the loss of electrical supply.
There are usually between 200-300 a year and these take the longest time to repair as the local electricity company has to locate, excavate in the footpath (or road), and repair without disruption to any local commercial or residential supply.
Community safety lighting initiatives
During the last three years Community Safety lighting schemes have been installed in locations that would benefit from improved lighting, to assist in reducing crime and the fear of crime in those areas.
Particular locations were highlighted by a number of factors but mainly high incidents of crime and disorder causing residents to feel unsafe. In addition to the new lighting, illumination levels have been improved and light sources that show colours better has been provided.
Community Safety lighting projects have been carried out with support from the following:
- Community safety officers
- Community safety partnerships
- Members of the council
- Neighbourhood Watch
- Derbyshire Constabulary
- Borough and district councils
- Parish councils.
If you are reporting an emergency fault please call:
Call Derbyshire on 08456 058 058 between 8.00am and 8pm Monday to Friday, and between 9.30am and 4pm Saturday.
Derbyshire Constabulary on 0845 123 3333 outside the hours listed above.
