A NEW street lighting scheme is set to be rolled out in Whitchurch after the town council agreed to new dimming proposals.

The scheme, which will affect all town council-owned lighting, will result in street lamps being dimmed by 25 per cent between the time they are switched on and midnight, before dimming to 50 per cent between midnight and 5am.

The lamps, which are positioned across the town’s conservation area, in roads such as Bell Street and Winchester Street, will then dim again by 25 per cent after 5am, until the point when they are switched off.

Currently the lights are running on full power throughout the night.

The scheme will bring lighting down to similar levels as Hampshire County Council-owned lamps in the town, which are run on the same time schedule.

Chairman of Whitchurch Town Council, Cllr Mike Kean, said: “The scheme is about saving energy and money which we will do under this new system.

“It will also make the lights more environmentally friendly because they are currently running on full power at night.”

The scheme will be trialled for a period between nine months and 12 months to allow the council to judge the adequacy of the lighting during the winter months.

Cllr Kean added: “It will give us the chance to assess the lighting and we will then review it to see if it is working and if there have been any complaints or observations.

“If everyone is really happy with it then perhaps we can look at dimming them more or to a similar level as the county council and save even more money and energy.”