Street lights to switch on earlier when clocks go back

Residents who leave the house early in the morning have questioned why street lights are not coming on while it is dark.

All street lights in part-night areas come on according to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

In winter, the lights switch on from dusk to the middle of the night and from 5.30am to dawn (may vary up to 20 minutes either way depending on the equipment).

In summer when the clocks go forward to reflect British Summer Time (BST), the lights do not.

So during October it appears the lights switch on an hour later.

John O’Brien, West Sussex County Council’s cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “We’d like to reassure everyone the lights will come on earlier when the clocks go back.

“The timings of the street lights are factory set and cannot be altered.

“We just have to wait until October 30 for everything to get back in-sync.”

Part night lighting in West Sussex runs from dusk to middle of the night and from 5.30am to dawn (may vary by 20 minutes either way).

Most residential roads in West Sussex are lit to this lighting regime.

All night lighting in West Sussex runs from dusk to dawn.

All town centres and main distributor roads are lit to this regime.

All night lighting dims by 40 per cent after the middle of the night until 5.30am.

It then reverts to full lighting level until dawn.

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