Sometimes the fault can be due to a problem on the local electricity company's service connection so there's no electrical supply. There are usually between 200 and 300 of these faults each year. They take the longest time to repair as the local electricity company has to locate the fault, excavate the footpath or road, and repair it without disruption to any local commercial or residential supply.
We're responsible for 89,000 street lights and 8,000 lit signs and bollards 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 Highways England.
Our street lights are usually visited at least once every 6 years for routine safety inspections. At this visit we carry out:
- an electrical inspection and test
- a visual structural inspection of our lighting columns
All used equipment is recycled wherever possible and disposed of in accordance with the Waste Electrical and Electronic (WEEE) Regulations.
District, borough councils and housing associations own the lighting in their own car parks and housing areas.
New street lighting
New lighting is only installed on existing roads where there's a night-time casualty record, evidence of high levels of night time antisocial behaviour or where justified as part of other measures to improve road safety.
Lighting is installed on new housing estates where the streets (or footpaths) are being adopted by us.
Developers (sometimes called builders) will be required to install street lights in accordance with our requirements but are responsible for all maintenance costs 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's accepted that the road including the street lights comply with our requirements, we'll take on full responsibility for future maintenance including energy costs.
When lights have reached the end of their operational life an assessment will be made of whether lighting is still required before replacement options are considered.