Residents left in the dark after street lights turn off (From Watford Observer)

Watford and Bushey residents left in the dark after street lights turn off

10:50am Friday 22nd March 2013 in News By Adam Binnie, Senior Reporter

Parts of Watford and Bushey were plunged into darkness last night as street lights turned themselves off at random.

The blackouts appeared to mostly be affecting street lamps which are included in the county’s "part-night" lighting scheme, in West, central and north Watford, and parts of Bushey.

The majority of streetlights in Watford, Three Rivers, Dacorum and Hertsmere switch off between midnight and 6am as part of a cost-cutting scheme.

Last year more than 40,000 street light components had to be replaced after they were deemed to be the cause of a fault which saw thousands of streetlights randomly cutting out in March.

The supplier of the "photocell" accepted responsibility for the fault and replaced the equipment in July and August.