Drivers in Milton Keynes are being left in the dark due to dozens of broken street lights, city official complains

Milton Keynes official Alderman Paul Bartlett is urging the council to get the lights fixed, warning the dim conditions could lead to accidents.

"It really is not acceptable that driving around Million Keynes in the dark is dicing with death and injury,” he said.

Faulty lights of roundabouts are a particular problem, he says, causing “ghost roundabouts” that are only visible when you are upon them.

“Drivers are having to negotiate junctions and roundabouts in total darkness...Standing Way in particular has three roundabouts with no lighting, Coffee Hall roundabout and others are in a similar situation.

"Portway roundabout over the A5 at CMK has eight lights out of action and in Stony Stratford some lights have not been working for twelve months, despite being reported five times".

Alderman Bartlett added: "The council needs to sort this out before there is a serious accident and some one dies or is seriously injured.

"A simple drive around the city after dark by council officers will quickly find out where the issues – are but no-one seems interested,” he claimed,

The Citizen contact Milton Keynes City Council to ask for a comment about the streetlight situation. A spokesperson told us: “MK has over 58,000 illuminated items across the city that we are responsible for. We've been busy upgrading the final phase of residential streetlights to LED which is now 93% complete. Switching to LED has helped us to significantly reduce the cost and amount of energy and carbon we use to keep the streets lit.”

They added: “There is no legal requirement for the Council to provide streetlighting but we have done this on most streets to improve road safety.

“Vehicle headlights are designed to illuminate the road environment for the driver and speed should be reduced on an approach to a roundabout. Our road markings and signs also contain reflective material that is picked up by headlights.

“We have an extensive programme of repairs and cable replacements for the next year which we'll be publishing on our website shortly, but it takes time to plan for cabling repairs around busy roundabouts as we need to keep the traffic flowing as much as possible whilst carrying out large ground excavations.”