STREETLIGHTS in Devon will be dimmed as part of a year long trial by Devon County Council (DCC).

Lights in market towns and rural areas will be dimmed to 40 per cent output, the council says.

It should be noted that, there will be no change to the current policy on street lighting on main roads.

The 12 month trial comes after a pilot last year in Abbotskerswell, Holcombe Rogus, Kingskerswell and Sidmouth, where 550 streetlights underwent earlier switch-off times and additional dimming.

The new trial, set to begin in April, has been made possible due to upgrades to DCC’s Central Management System, allowing adjustments to be made remotely to around 80 per cent of Devon’s 80,000 streetlights.

A spokesperson for DCC said: “We calculate that this change will achieve a reduction of circa 225 tonnes of carbon per annum.

“At current energy prices this proposal could save DCC as much as £300k per year.

“Our councillors agreed in December to roll out the scheme to all areas where residential streetlights can be remotely adjusted.

‘It will be introduced in phases over the first couple months of the trial, starting in Exeter, before moving on to the previous pilot areas (Abbotskerswell, Holcombe Rogus, Kingskerswell and Sidmouth) followed by other market towns such as Ashburton, Barnstaple, Crediton and Honiton, and then rural areas.

‘We worked closely with Devon and Cornwall Police throughout the small-scale pilot earlier last year, and in developing this 12-month trial.

‘If police raise any safety concerns over the lighting levels during the trial, they can be reviewed and, where necessary, altered via our Central Management System.’

In market towns, lights will be dimmed to 40 per cent output from 8:30pm-midnight, then switched off from midnight to 5:30am, with 40 per cent output from 5:30am-6:30am.

Councillor Stuart Hughes, cabinet member for highway management, said: ‘The initial pilot of these changes to streetlight dimming hours and output has provided us with a good test bed.

‘There was positive feedback to that pilot and that has helped inform the trial over the next 12 months.

‘The central management system of our street lighting provides us with the opportunity to extend the trial over a much wider area of the county, taking in over 60,000 of our residential streetlights.

‘This provides us with reduced carbon emissions and lower energy bills but ensures that safety isn’t compromised.’

Devon County Council first introduced part-night street lighting in residential areas in 2009 and its current policy has been in place since 2019.

 As well as part-night lighting of residential streetlights, the roll-out of LED lighting and dimming of streetlights on main roads has reduced energy use, carbon emissions and costs, the council says.

Devon’s streetlights used around 12 million kWh of electricity in 2023/24, compared to around 31million kWh in 2015/16, an annual £6 million saving.