Norfolk to get 15,000 more LED street lights

Around 15,000 main road lights will be upgraded to LED bulbs, adding to the 11,000 others which have already been put in place across the county.

Norfolk County Council said the average energy saving for each street upgraded is more than 70pc, adding that the scheme has already cut 1,200 tonnes of CO2 emissions over the last two years.

Martin Wilby, Norfolk County Council's cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport. (Image: Archant)

Martin Wilby, the authority's cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport, said: "We’ve set ourselves an ambitious target of becoming carbon neutral as an authority by 2030.

"This award-winning programme sees old, high energy consuming, streetlights replaced with efficient LED lights allowing us to cut carbon emissions and save money too."

County councillor for Wymondham Joe Mooney added: "In terms of the reduction in CO2 and the proposed overall savings in energy, I very much welcome this excellent news."

Thetford county councillor Terry Jermy welcomed the environmental impact and money-saving aspects of the scheme, but questioned why other street lights which are using outdated technology have not yet been targeted.

Terry Jermy, Labour county councillor for Thetford. (Image: Archant)

He said: "It saves the council significant sums of money and lessens the environmental impact by reducing the amount of carbon produced. I proposed an amendment to the Council's budget last year on behalf of the Labour Group calling for this investment and I am pleased that the administration have now acted upon this opportunity.

"There remains thousands of street-lights however that are not utilising the most up to date technology and therefore they are unnecessarily costly and damaging to the environment and the council needs to urgently explore options for these remaining units."