WORK started this week to install new low-energy street lighting along Herefordshire’s roads.

In some areas, such as the New Mills estate in Ledbury, there is already a mix of the new LED street lamps and the older, "sodium" street lights, which have an orange glow.

But the older lights are set to become a thing of the past, while the brightness of the new lamps will depend on the time of night, because they can be dimmed as a cost-saving measure.

The £5.5 million green project started on Monday, January 12, in Whitecross, Hereford and will be rolled out across the whole county over the coming months.

Herefordshire Council’s public realm contractor, Balfour Beatty Living Places (BBLP), is replacing all 9,000 street lights in the county with LEDs, and the new lights are expected to save Herefordshire Council over £13m, over the next two decades.

Cllr Philip Price, Herefordshire Council’s cabinet member infrastructure, said: “This is our largest-ever carbon reduction project.”

He added: “Not only is it good for the environment, but it will bring us substantial savings through lower energy costs and maintenance bills and will reduce light pollution, too.”

The final, and largest, phase of LED street lighting is expected to take a year to complete. This includes replacing about a quarter of all lampposts.

A third of Herefordshire’s street lights have already been replaced at a cost of £1.5 million, and some of these have been in Ledbury.

BBLPs principal lighting engineer, Mark Tidswell, said: “Upon completion, the energy consumption of street lighting in Herefordshire will be vastly reduced, as will the ongoing future maintenance burden.

“As well as the work on site, much will be going on behind the scenes updating the council’s systems and inventories to ensure the financial savings are realised as early as possible”.

The new LEDs will be dimmed to save money and reduce light pollution.

Approximate times and power in the schedule are dusk to 10pm - 100% of full power; 10pm to midnight - 80% of full power; ,midnight to 5.30am - 50% of full power, and 5.30am to dawn 100% of full power.