Street light glitch leaves Bolton residents in the dark

People living around Heatherfield first raised concerns about the street lights weeks ago.

One resident - who asked not to be named - reported two street lights being broken on Belmont Road outside the ambulance station.

He told The Bolton News this meant that the street lights were sometimes on during the day and that it was pitch black at night.

He added: “This has been an issue for months and not just my area.

“Other residents around Astley Bridge have posted on local social media groups that they are having the same issues. You can drive around Bolton and see lots of these newer LED lights not working and we never had this with the original lights.”

The resident said this issue has been ongoing for months, and he only received a response from Bolton Council this week, after months of reporting the issue.

Cllr Hillary Fairclough said: “There are lots of reasons why street lights fail, and the council aims to rectify the issues as soon as possible.

“But if they are unable to sort it out quickly they should update the residents so they don’t feel forgotten.”

In an email seen by The Bolton News, Bolton Council’s Street Care team said: “Thank you for your emails. We are working to rectify the issue which has been ongoing even after our repairs.

“The newer LED lighting is controlled by a computer management system, we have a communication issue in the area which is intermittent and causing some lights to come on at the wrong times, late, or not at all.

“When there is a communication issue the lights are supposed to default to be on 24 hours a day, so areas are not left without light over night, but this isn’t happening on some lights.

“We are working to rectify the issue as soon as possible.”

Cllr John Walsh said: “I will look into this immediately, and I can only apologise and sort it out straight away and make sure something is done.”

More details of reported street lights can be found online at www.fixmystreet.com