Night-time deaths and serious injuries on Warwickshire roads up since switch-off

Street lights are turned off between 12am and 5.30am on week nights and between 1am and 6.30am on weekends.

A review carried out by the county council’s overview and scrutiny committee includes figures for road incidents at night on the roads affected by the switch-off from December 2012 to December 2013, comparing them with the same period from 2011 to 2012, before the lights were turned off.

The figures show that the numbers of slight injuries - those not requiring medical treatment - increased from seven to ten, while the number of people killed or seriously injured went up from three to five.

Among those people was 18-year-old Warwick University student Archie Wellbelove, who died after being struck by a taxi in Kenilworth Road in Leamington in December 2012. An inquest found that the street lights being turned off contributed towards his death.

The number of anti-social behaviour incidents dropped from 1,308 to 779, while violent crime offences decreased from 330 to 262.

The report said £560,000 was saved, exceeding the council’s target saving of £500,000.

County councillor Peter Butlin said: “Whichever way you look at the statistics, they make for very positive reading. We will continue to analyse the data but the early signs are very encouraging.”