Blackpool town centre streets left in darkness after lighting removed

Shelagh Parkinson
·2-min read
The area near the Sands Hotel in Blackpool has been left without street lighting
-Credit: (Image: LDRS)


Calls have been made for better street lighting in Blackpool town centre amid concerns some areas have been left in darkness. Adelaide Street West which runs between the Houndshill Shopping Centre and the Promenade is one of the areas picked out as feeling unsafe due to its lack of lighting.

Conservative councillor Gerard Walsh told a meeting of the full council: “It is my understanding during the construction of the Sands Venue Resort Hotel by Coolsilk, the street lights were removed from that area to enable work vehicles to access the site. However now the work has been completed, Adelaide Street West is in complete darkness.

“Indeed after being brought to my attention I thought I would undertake a walk to that area, and I have to say I felt extremely uneasy. I would ask any elected member to go and visit that site.”

READ MORE: Man in his 90s rushed to hospital after being hit by car

READ MORE: Creating single council to cover Fylde coast would be 'disastrous', MP warns

Cllr Walsh asked why the street lights had not been reinstated, when they were likely to return and if there would be a cost to the council. He added: “As someone who lives in the town centre, it is more akin to living in a major city during the Blitz rather than a well lit holiday resort.”

Council leader Coun Lynn Williams said during a recent walk around the town centre to check where Christmas lights could be connected, it had been noticed there were darker areas which needed improvements and this work had been scheduled in.

It comes as the council has agreed to re-start the roll out of energy-saving LED lights for street lighting across the town. The initiative had been paused due to rising costs of materials.

But the work will now continue and it is hoped it could shave up to 50 per cent off the council’s energy bills for street lighting, as well as provide more environmentally friendly lights.

A council report says: “One of the key objectives of the change to LED lighting is to reduce energy consumption for street lighting, reducing energy costs. This in turn would minimise the effects of future energy price increases. Current financial modelling suggests that we could achieve a saving of 50 per cent of our annual energy costs by introducing LEDs.”

The council first unveiled plans to switch to LED bulbs for street lighting in 2021 with the move predicted to lead to annual savings of £688,000 adding up to savings of more than £6m over the 20-year lifespan of the LEDs.

LED bulbs are already used for the Illuminations and to light up Blackpool Tower.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter LANCS LIVE NEWS and get all the biggest stories from across Lancashire direct to your inbox

Latest stories

  • Watch as Florida gator drags massive python across pond

    Large Burmese pythons are known to eat alligators in Florida’s Everglades region. But sometimes the opposite is true. The accompanying footage, captured Nov. 28, shows a large gator swimming across a pond with a giant python in its

  • These lights are being installed around a Welsh city - there's a problem if you see them flashing red or purple

    It is the first city in the UK to have the lights installed

  • Watch: Killer whales swim right up to onlookers on waterfront

    A pod of killer whales shocked onlookers in Shetland by swimming up to the shore.

  • Cost of switching off UK wind farms soars to ‘absurd’ £1bn

    British bill payers have spent an “absurd” £1bn to temporarily switch off wind turbines so far this year as the grid struggles to cope with their power.

  • I know where in landfill my missing £600m fortune is, computer expert tells court

    A father seeking to recover a lost hard drive from a landfill site containing an apparent £600 million Bitcoin fortune has told a court he knows where to look.

  • Colo. Girl, 4, Approached Animal She Thought Was Dog. It Was Actually a Coyote, Who Attacked Child

    “The agency is reminding everyone to be vigilant of their children and pets when living amid wildlife,” the Colorado Parks and Wildlife statement said

  • Scientists gather to decode puzzle of the world's rarest whale in 'extraordinary' New Zealand study

    It is the world’s rarest whale, with only seven of its kind ever spotted. “I can’t tell you how extraordinary it is,” said a joyful Anton van Helden, senior marine science adviser for New Zealand’s conservation agency, who gave the spade-toothed whale its name to distinguish it from other beaked species. Van Helden has studied beaked whales for 35 years, but Monday was the first time he has participated in a dissection of the spade-toothed variety.

  • Met Office map shows where snow could fall TODAY as UK braced for chilly weather

    Wintry conditions will return for some Brits

  • ‘It just keeps coming and coming’: Heavy lake-effect snow dumps more than 5 feet over parts of Great Lakes region

    Post-Thanksgiving travel will be treacherous in parts of the Great Lakes region on Monday with more lake-effect snow falling after the region was already buried under feet of it, while cold temperatures remain across a large swath of the United States.

  • Rhodes: British holidaymakers issued with torrential rain warning amid deadly Storm Bora flooding

    Holidaymakers are being warned of flooded properties and streets and possible power cuts as Storm Bora hits

  • Ukrainians find new energy sources to beat blackouts as winter arrives

    Standing on the rooftop of a 16-storey residential apartment building in Ukraine's capital Kyiv, Valerii Pyndyk pointed to several rows of solar panels. Pyndyk hopes the installation - one of the first of its kind by residents in Kyiv - will help about 1,000 families living in the building get through what could prove Ukraine's most difficult winter since the start of Russia's invasion. The two previous winters of the war were already challenging, but Russia has now intensified its attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, with at least 11 major missile and drone strikes since March.

  • Floods wreak havoc in Malaysia, southern Thailand with over 30 killed, tens of thousands displaced

    Severe floods caused by monsoon rains killed more than 30 people and displaced tens of thousands in Malaysia and southern Thailand, officials said Tuesday, with both countries preparing shelters and evacuation plans in anticipation of more heavy rain. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said five days of heavier-than-expected rain that battered the country's east coast last week was equal to the rainfall over the past six months, wreaking havoc in the northeastern state of Kelantan and neighboring Terengganu.

  • Farmer ordered to pay more than £6k after polluting stream

    A farmer has been ordered to pay more than £6,500 after ignoring the opportunity to avoid a criminal conviction.

  • UK weather: Temperatures forecast as low as -10C

    Forecasters are predicting a widespread frost across the UK, with the potential for -10C (14F) in some places. Most areas will turn dry on Monday evening and, as skies clear, temperatures are set to plummet overnight. "Rural areas, mainly in Scotland, could dip as low as -10C (14F), while -6C (21F) is possible in parts of Northern Ireland and north Wales," said Sky News weather producer Chris England.

  • 'Water emergency' warning on two Canary Islands popular with UK tourists

    'Water emergencies' have been extended in two holiday hotspots

  • Meet the aging hunters battling bears in rural Japan

    STORY: In rural Japan a gunshot rings out. A bear slumps in a cage."This brown bear got too close to a human community. It wasn't right here but over that way in the middle of the town and on the roads close by. In this kind of situation, we have no choice other than to trap them." Bears are making their way closer to homes, and putting people’s lives at risk. Keeping the townspeople safe often falls on the shoulders of a dwindling band of aging hunters, like 75-year-old Haruo Ikegami. "I'm often the first one that gets there when they're caught like this, and I always say, 'oh come on, you're already in there?' I can't bear it."Once a common sight among the trees, hunters like Ikegami are now older, and fewer in number than before. :: RUNNING OUT OF TIMEJapan’s population is both aging and shrinking.As of 2020, about 60% of gun license-holders, like Ikegami, are over 60. And in areas where bears roam, some residents wonder what will happen when these hunters can no longer do their job. In the town of Naie, Tatsuhito Yamagishi has accused the local government of taking hunters for granted."They say we should train new hunters, but there's nothing specific on how we should do this. Who's going to hold the training sessions and the workshops? In a few years' time when we (hunters) are all over 70 years old, will there even be anybody left who could teach people how to hunt bears, even if they wanted to?"Naie’s local government declined to comment on the dispute with Yamagishi, but said officials were taking steps to address the bear problem.Japan’s environment ministry says it subsidizes local governments to train officials and conduct bear drills.But the country’s reliance on recreational bear hunters could become unsustainable, according to the hunters themselves, officials, residents and experts Reuters spoke to. :: BOLDER BEARSBoth black and brown bears’ habitats have been expanding, in part because of depopulation in rural areas, experts say.Some believe this, and less managed farmland, may be making bears more daring.And the animals appear to be raising cubs closer to human settlements, causing them to fear people less than before.All this has contributed to an increase in human-bear incidents.In the twelve months through March 2024, 219 people were attacked. Six fatally. More than 9,000 black and brown bears were trapped and culled over that period, according to Japan’s environment ministry.84-year-old Katsuo Harada carries scars from over 20 years ago, when a bear sank its teeth into his skull.'It was like it was gnawing on a raw radish, scraping and crunching. I passed out at the sound and I don't know what happened beyond that."Harada is now part of a group that helps keep problematic wildlife at bay."I feel that I have to protect the people living here. Whenever I set a trap, you saw today there are four locations, I'm driven forwards by the thought that if I hadn't laid the traps, somebody could have been killed." One common way to trap bears is by using a large cage with bait, like a deer carcass, salmon or honey. The trap is designed so that the creature steps on a metal plate when it goes near the bait, triggering the door to close. The local authorities then make a call on what to do with the animal and may involve licensed hunters to kill it. The trapped bear is looked after and fed until it is culled.As an alternative solution, some companies are turning to technology.This “Monster Wolf” robot growls, barks and emits threats. Costing about $2,500, it is triggered by a sensor and powered by solar energy.It has shown some success, but Yamagishi explains that it takes years for humans to learn how to trap bears and insists their expertise will remain indispensable. :: DWINDLING FRONT LINEResponding to the increase in attacks, the Japanese government this year proposed relaxing rules around gun use to make it easier to shoot bears in urban areas.But hunters say it’s hard to find new recruits because the job is expensive, unappealing, and exhausting.Some get 8,000 yen, or about $50 from local governments for a bear cull. This might cover expenses and fuel, Ikegami says, but little else. A system is needed, they suggest, where hunters are paid enough to support a family. Because if the younger generation doesn’t take up the torch, the last line of defence will soon be gone.

  • Snow to hit parts of Scotland as temperatures drop below freezing

    Temperatures in parts of Scotland could hit as low as -8 degrees celcius as the colder winter weather hits the country.

  • Nephew spent hundreds of pounds to fix aunt's grave damaged by flooding

    Newport man had to pay hundreds of pounds to have his aunt's grave in St Woolos Cemetery reset after flood damage.

  • New Zealand scientists dissect world's rarest whale

    New Zealand scientists on Monday began dissecting a whale considered the rarest in the world, a species so elusive that only seven specimens have ever been documented. "This one is the rarest of the rare -- only the seventh specimen known from anywhere in the world, and the first opportunity we have had to undertake a dissection like this." 

  • 'We are desperately low on newspapers' - wildlife rescue's appeal to save hedgehogs

    An animal rescue centre in Thorrington has launched an urgent appeal to the public for newspapers as it continues its vital work saving hundreds of endangered hedgehogs each year.