STREET lights across Southampton are being switched off for three hours every night from this week as part of plans to help the council save £22 million. 

Southampton City Council has implemented the plans, mooted in their budget consultation for 2023/24, in a bid to to deal with the national rising cost of energy, reduce CO2 emissions and bring ecological benefits.

The local authority says the plan to switch off lights on residential streets could actually reduce certain crime rates, but residents have voiced safety fears. 

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Rebecca Gilbert, who lives on Stanton Road, said neighbours had already suffered break-ins near her home in Regents Park.

She added: "It's a bit spooky out there with no street lights. As usual, there's been no consideration for night or shift workers, but I think the burglars will like it."

Samantha Jayne said there was 'no way' she would now walk alone down her road in Shirley at night while Daniel Wells described the move as 'completely mad'.

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Some parts of Southampton are exempt from the scheme, including parks, the city centre, major routes and areas with high rates of anti-social behaviour.

Shopping areas in Bitterne, Woolston, Portswood and Shirley will still be lit as well as hospitals, community hubs, roads with traffic calming measures and key CCTV monitoring locations. 

A Southampton City Council spokesperson said: "Neighbouring Local Authorities have already implemented the turning off of street lights and 67 per cent of our consultation respondents were in support of Southampton adopting the same approach.

"Some national studies have shown that certain crimes actually reduce in residential areas where streetlights are turned off.

"(It) will be implemented in a flexible manner allowing us to react and make changes to the scheme if necessary. We estimate that this proposal could reduce our CO2 output by 124 tonnes.

"We have worked closely with a variety of stakeholders across the city including the police and other emergency services, as well as experts at Southampton City Council and our Highways and Citywatch partners at Balfour Beatty. We will continue to work with these stakeholders to monitor this initiative."