New street lamps that light up Milton Keynes street 'like a football stadium' keeping residents awake at night

The council replaced the old street lights in Warmington Gardens, Downhead Park, with new LED installations earlier this month as part of its plan to save energy and improve lighting all over the MK.

But the illuminating new bulbs are causing dark circles under residents' eyes. They are far too bright and shine straight into bedroom windows, householders have complained.

"No-one in our house can sleep because outside is illuminated like a football pitch," said one resident.

"Opposite our house is a small close with three of these lights in, and at the side and back of our house there are three more... They are angled up and outwards and therefore straight into our bedrooms," she added.

"We even have blackout blinds and curtains fitted and still the light penetrates all round the edge and floodlights us."

The resident says her complaints to MK Council have fallen upon deaf ears.

"The lady from the council has told us that nothing can be done for four weeks, if anything, and we don't hold out much hope that she is very interested in following this up," she said.

"But we have phoned the company who fitted these lights a week ago and they say they can be angled downwards which would make life bearable... Surely there is no need for such powerful lights in small closes and I imagine this problem will only escalate as more are converted"

The Citizen asked MK Council if they could send contractors out to adjust the lights so the families could get some sleep.

A council spokesperson said: “Any LED street light installation that we do has to be in line which the specification for the area – we have to provide a certain level of lighting for safety. We also make sure that the lanterns are angled so that they light up only the parts we want to illuminate i.e. the redways, roads and footways to reduce light pollution"

She added: "All the light units have a dimming setting so we will check that this is set to the correct levels. If we receive any reports like this where residents say the lights are too bright, a street lighting engineer will go to the area and check the lights.”

The replacement lights are part of a 10 year, £35m council programme to replace all 56,000 street lights across the borough,

MK Council says the "vital" work will ensure lights in both urban and rural areas meet the latest standards, including being more energy efficient.

A spokesman said: "Many of our street lights are getting old and in need of replacement, some are more than 40 years old and just don't meet modern standards. The new LED white lights are more effective at directing light onto the roads and pavements, helping to reduce traffic accidents, crime (as well as the fear of crime) and make the streets safer.

"This lighting also helps with colour rendition and enables true colours to be seen by the human eye. This is particularly important for CCTV images".