A NUMBER of streets in Colchester have been given a reprieve when lights start going out.

Essex County Council will turn off seven out of ten streetlights between midnight and 5am, starting on Sunday.

The switch-off was due to start on November 18, but the scheme was delayed after councillors forced County Hall to have a rethink on number of streets.

Some of them will continue to have lights on overnight following a review.

Colchester’s New Town estate has come out best, with lights in Magdalen Street, Barrack Street, Military Road, Wimpole Road, Brook Street and Hythe Hill staying on.

Teresa Higgins, borough councillor for New Town, said: “I requested certain streets were kept lit because they were through routes to the town centre and some of the roads are covered by CCTV which doesn’t work unless it is light.”

Lights in Maldon Road, Butt Road, Mersea Road and Beaconsfield Avenue will also stay on.

The path following the town wall around Castle Park will continue to be lit all night.

Footpaths in Mile End, linking Hugh Dickson Road to Mile End Road and the station walkway from Propelair Way along the Bergholt Road allotment site will also stay on. One light will be left on in Rowhedge, at a point where the river is next to the High Street.

Streetlamps on a path often used by Essex University students walking along Salary Brook will also stay on.

Streets around the Dutch Quarter, which are covered by CCTV, are still under review.

Calls for an exemption in Wivenhoe has been rejected, despite concerns for the students who return to the town late at night from Essex University.