WITH cuts to services in the area digging deep and the promise of more to come, cash strapped Monmouthshire County Council has revealed that the cost of this year's three cycling events amounted to almost £300,000. With another swathe of street lights due to be switched off this week in Usk, Llangybi, Llanbadoc, Little Mill and Goytre, the authority has admitted that the cost of the staging the National Cycling Championships alone exceeded the street light switch-off savings for the year by some £40,000. The county's tourism chief, Ian Saunders defended the spending saying the high profile events helped put Monmouthshire on the map and brought cash into the county. "The cost of the National Cycling Championships to the council was approximately £220,000 but the benefits of holding the event were substantial as the local economy was boosted by goods purchased by visitors as well as the money spent in restaurants, pubs and for accommodation,"?said Mr Saunders. "The championships were held over four days and attracted professional and amateur cyclists as well as large numbers of fans, many of whom had travelled considerable distances. "The event put Monmouthshire on the map and now that people have seen what's on offer we're sure they'll want to return." He added the cost of hosting the grand finale of British Cycling's Elite Circuit Series in Chepstow was £10,000 and the Tour of Britain this week cost the council approximately £40,000. Mr Saunders added, "These figures should not be regarded as an isolated cost but rather as an investment to reinforce the county's growing reputation as the cycling capital of Wales and a major UK player that can attract the sport's top names. "This summer's cycling has caught people's imagination and we look forward to similar events as well as the cycling track set for Gilwern. "In addition to attracting the top names our other goal is to encourage residents, both young and old, to take to their bikes and enjoy our stunning countryside while reaping the benefits of exercise." But to many residents this is no consolation, and with more lights going off across the county this week many fear for their safety and the safety of their homes and vehicles and feel that the spend has been ill-judged at a time when the county is making, sometimes unpopular, moves to save money. Former Abergavenny councillor Graham Preece is one of those who remains less than happy with the decision to save money by switching off street lighting, pointing out that while many parts of the town are plunged into darkness after midnight other areas such as Heol Hamlin and all of the often empty council car parks remain well lit. "I also wonder what is going on when I see main road lighting during the day in the town," said Mr Preece. Mr Preece said he had contacted MCC about street lights remaining on, and has even met with highways inspectors and councillors to get this sorted. But he feels without his intervention the council would not have taken any action. "Once again it seems no one at MCC seems to do any checking after contractors have said the job has been done," he said. And while MCC has announced it is undertaking surveys to see which lights in car parks can be switched off, Mr Preece questions the idea of cutting public services when MCC has found money to support the cycling races "MCC really needs to revisit this savings scheme and think again about getting basic controls on everyday spending before putting in place such an ill thought out cut to public services" Despite its unpopularity in some quarters MCC is standing by its policy, and argues that the lights are off for limited hours, that it is looking into any anomalies with street lights on at incorrect times, and that it is doing all it can to ensure large savings and minimal impact on the people of the county. Monmouthshire's cabinet member responsible for the county's street lighting, Councillor Bryan Jones, said, "Until now, we have been able to make significant savings through working more efficiently. But the scale of cuts for this year was such that we can't avoid making savings that could impact on the communities we serve.  "I understand entirely that many people won't like the idea of streetlights being turned off.  But we have limited the hours when this will happen and I'm confident that we have done what we can to minimise the impact".