STREET lighting in Abergavenny has been switched off between midnight and 5am from this week despite a last ditch attempt by a local councillor to reverse MCC's controversial cost cutting move. Llanwenarth Ultra councillor Kevin Williams made an unsuccessful call to council last week to take another look at the proposal to turn out street lights ahead of the switch off. Councillor Williams said, "I stood firmly against this when it was first brought up, and I will continue to stand up against this action. Turning off the street lights overnight will affect the most vulnerable people the most. "What happens to the elderly person who hears a sound at night and can't see what it is? They may think its a burglar while it might be simply a cat climbing over their fence. Making these people live in fear and be concerned for their own welfare is not something I want to see. "I am not suggesting that we take this off the table, but I am suggesting that we take it back to Strong Communities Select Committee and look over it once more, as I don't feel we gave it the time it needed last time." Councillor Williams also drew members' attention to a news item from Leamington in 2013 which highlighted the case of a young man who was struck by a taxi and killed shortly after the street lights in the town were turned off overnight. "When I heard about this I was deeply saddened and concerned. We cannot risk something like this happening here," said Councillor Williams. His concerns were supported by Councillor Peter Farley who said he was worried that the local authority did not know the streets in various town well enough to make judgements on safety, while Councillor Armand Watts said that many people worked shifts to make ends meet and were required to walk home in the early hours. "With the industrial estate and supermarkets open later than they once were, these people are out in between this period of midnight and 5am walking the streets, and we need to ensure they are safe to do so," said Councillor Watts. These concerns were quashed by Councillor Maureen Powell, who suggested that people going out at night should carry torches as they had during war time - a suggestion which 'baffled' opposition councillors. Councillor Powell said, 'Most of the people who are out after these hours are younger people, and in this area we have more thefts during the daytime. "Light doesn't mean safety, and surely if needs be they can take a torch with them." Despite the lengthy debate the administration felt that the proposal had been accepted previously and the savings it generated had been taken into consideration within the budget, and as such the issue could not be re-addressed. Councillors also said the savings of £85,000 could not be found elsewhere - a point which was argued by Labour leader Councillor Dimitri Batrouni. In a recorded vote at the end of the debate the motion was defeated, and as of Thursday August 1, amid local anger at the lack of adequate warning, Monmouthshire County Council began to phase in the switching off of streetlights in Abergavenny, with lights going off in Usk and Caldicot later in the summer. Councillor Bryan Jones, the cabinet member responsible for the county's street lighting said, "Until now, we have been able to make significant savings through working more efficiently. But the scale of cuts for this year were 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 at which this will happen and I'm confident that we have done what we can to minimise the impact.