COLLISIONS and injuries have risen where street lights were switched off to save cash – but council chiefs insist the cash-saving drive is not to blame.

In the 21 months after the first round of lights were turned off at three A roads there were five collisions and six ‘casualties’, injured or killed in hours of darkness.

This was up from four collisions and five casualties in the 21 months before the 267 lights were turned off in August 2007.

And county-wide incidents rose from five to nine collisions and six to 11 casualties when taking into account four other sites in north Bucks.

More lights have since been switched off, sending a total 2,000 out of 28,500 into darkness. A further 18,000 could now be switched off between midnight and 5am.

The first lights were switched off on the A4128 Hughenden Road, the A40 from Beaconsfield to Gerrards Cross and the A412 Denham roundabout to Iver to save cash and emissions.

Gerrards Cross Parish Council member Chris Brown said: “I don’t think we are being told the whole story. I am not at all surprised.”

He said: “Having no lights is another element you have to take into account. Things happen, people cross and pull out when you don’t expect it.”

Cllr Brown had called for the lights to be reinstated at the A40 at Gerrards Cross after OAP Margaret Beeson was hit by a car and killed while crossing the road.

A coroner called for a review into the policy but BCC later refused to switch these lights back on (see links, bottom of story).

A BCC report (see links) said the increase was ‘disappointing although the overall numbers are still low’.

Its study said the figures were ‘skewed’ by the biggest surge, one to four casualties, at the A413 Nash Lee roundabout near Wendover. High friction surfacing added to tackle it, it said.

It said only one other collision, a rear-end shunt, had been attributed to the lack of lighting, on the A412 at Denham.

Yet the council said: “It is not immediately clear why the [police] officer attending felt that the lack of street lighting may have been a factor.”

Overall it found: “Early concerns expressed about the possible impact of the trial, such as increased anti-social behaviour, reduced community or road safety have not been realised.”

And roads chief Councillor Valerie Letheren told a watchdog committee yesterday: “It actually looks as if there hasn’t been an increase in accidents and also the average speed of traffic has reduced in those areas.”

Cllr Letheren, cabinet member for transportation, said opposition had softened and about 60 per cent of residents supported the plan.

The authority says electricity costs rocketed 140 per cent from 2003 and the switch off saves £100,000 a year. Road improvements around the sites such as markings cost £600,000.

It was revealed yesterday that up to a further 500 lights could be switched off in small sections, such as approaches to roundabouts. No locations were given.

And up to 18,000 lights – about two-thirds of those managed by BCC – could be switched off from midnight to 5am. About 1,000 lights managed by town and parish councils are not affected.

Yet the authority admits there is a ‘reducing level of customer satisfaction’ over cuts to faulty light checks and replacements.

Lights have been removed from road signs ‘that are no longer required’ it said.

It is now looking at introducing LED lights, which it says are cheaper and more reliable and monitoring and controlling street lights remotely via computer.

But it said only 40 per cent of present lights could be dimmed.

Cllr Letheren was speaking to the council’s overview and scrutiny commissioning committee, which yesterday broadly supported the switch off.

Click the links below for more stories about the scheme and the full reports.