SWITCHING off street lights in the early hours is unlikely to be repeated a councillor who struggled to walk home from the pub has said.

Street lights in residential areas had been switched off between midnight and 6am in residential areas of Monmouthshire under a policy to reduce energy use, and save on bills, trialled from 2014 and extended in 2017 before being reversed.

Usk independent councillor Meirion Howells asked for an update on a plan to use dimmable lighting.

“I’ve had a resident ask me why we keep street lights on overnight,” said Cllr Howells who added that had previously been a ‘dark skies’ initiative to reduce light pollution and the impact on wildlife.

Labour’s Cllr Ben Callard, the cabinet member responsible for finance, said the decision to reverse the early hours street lighting switch off was taken before he was elected to the council in 2022.

“My understanding is the street lighting was reversed for safety reasons,” said the Llanfoist and Govilon councillor: “I had a number of occasions where I was walking back from the pub, probably later than I should have, and had to use the phone as a torch.”

Conservative Cllr Alistair Neill, the chair of the council’s performance and overview scrutiny committee, said: “It’s that classic question of the pub versus wildlife.”

Cllr Callard promised to update Cllr Howells on any use of dimmable technology to reduce lighting.