Street lighting

Report a faulty street light

To report a problem with a street light or illuminated traffic sign, please use the fault reporting system or phone 0345 60 80 193.

Please provide the location of the street light and if possible give the number (usually found on the side facing the road) and a description of the fault, eg light off at night, light on in daytime, vandalism etc.

Street lights should operate from dusk until dawn, while lights in pedestrian subways are usually on 24 hours a day.

Maintenance and repair targets

Street lights and illuminated traffic signs are regularly maintained and inspected, including:

• patrols (at night) fortnightly in winter and monthly in summer
• inspections, tests and cleaning every two years
• bulk lamp changes generally every four years
• painting every 10 years (two years in coastal roads exposed to sea spray).

We maintain more than 42,000 street lights and illuminated signs. Some street lights in the county are the responsibility of the Highways Agency and local district or borough councils.

We aim to:

• repair faults such as single lights within five days of being reported or priority work (eg more than five lights out in a row) within 24 hours
• carry out emergency work within one hour of the fault being reported.

We design new lighting schemes to help reduce the risk of night-time accidents and improve public safety.

Conservation areas

Old or damaged street lights are usually replaced with a standard type of street light, depending on the category of the road. If the road is in a sensitive or conservation area, we contact the local district or borough council who decide whether to contribute to any extra costs for installing non-standard street light columns. If no funds are available, standard street lighting is installed.

Standard street light columns are only painted if they are in a sensitive or conservation area. These are repainted every ten years. Standard columns are not painted if they are situated outside of these areas.

Find out more

Download our highways leaflet ESH03 – Lighting on roads.