Northamptonshire street lights switch-off 'saves £2m'
Nearly £2m was saved by switching off half of the street lights across Northamptonshire last year, it has been claimed.
Northamptonshire County Council gave the figures in a Freedom of Information request submitted by the BBC.
The Conservative-run council said it would have spent more than £4.9m on lighting this year but instead it spent £3m.
However critics said some people were scared to go out at night.
The authority made the move to turn off half of its 66,000 lights as part of a plan to save £100m in four years.
The figure confirms the council's claims that it would save the money in electricity and maintenance costs.
David Farquhar, the council's assistant director for highways, said: "In energy savings alone, we have saved in excess of £850,000 in the first year, but this is offset by £250,000 which is the cost of spending four months to switch the lights off."
Labour councillor Mark Pengelly said the authority was not considering the knock-on effects of the switch-off.
Mr Pengelly, who also runs a business at the St James Estate in Corby, said: "Since the switch-off we have been broken into five times. We have had to install security cameras."