Labour has called on the mayor to u-turn on plans to switch off street lights in certain areas over crime fears.

Some “less used” parts of Middlesbrough could see half of the street lights turned off between midnight and 6am under cuts lined up in the 2023/24 budget. The move is expected to save the council £148,000.

However, Labour wants a serious rethink over fears it would lead to criminals targetting areas where lights are switched off. The party’s mayoral candidate for the May elections Cllr Chris Cooke said residents are worried about burglaries and their own safety.

Independent Middlesbrough mayor Andy Preston said the measure was not something he wanted to do and was keen to discuss with Labour alternative ways to balance the books.

Councillors are set to vote on the budget proposals on Monday, February 27. More than £12m worth of cuts have been lined up and a 3.99% council tax increase is on the cards after a £14.9m black hole was identified.

Cllr Cooke said: “The mayor and his Conservative/Independent councillors have plunged the council into chaos. Now they’re getting ready to plunge the town into darkness.

“It really is a sorry state of affairs when you start turning street lights off. I’ve had a number of residents contact me, concerned about whether it will be their area which is hit. They are concerned about their safety and worried about whether their homes could be burgled. We have launched a petition and campaign to urge the mayor to u-turn on this.

“Andy Preston says he wants to tackle anti-social behaviour in our town. If he’s serious, he needs to do the right thing and keep our street lights switched on.”

In response, Mr Preston has welcomed the comments. He said: “Thanks to Middlesbrough Labour for coming forward on this. I’d love to see if we can work together to find a way of balancing the books without impacting the public too much.

“Just to be clear, this definitely isn’t something I want to do and I’d really welcome their input. Turning off some street lights at the quietest time, between midnight and 6am, is something that already happens routinely in many other councils.

“Doing the same might be the only way to balance the books – but if people would rather we cut something else I’d definitely like to hear from them so we can discuss alternatives.”

Since the first budget proposals in November last year, the council has rowed back on a number of the initial proposed cuts.

It will no longer axe the welfare rights service after alternative funding was found, plans to cut youth services funding by £100,000 have been binned and there will be no reduction of direct provision to support families to provide non-residential short breaks for children and young people with disabilities.

However, a number of cuts still remain. These include:

Turning off half of all street lights between 12am and 6am in ‘less used’ areas – saving £148,000

Hiking school dinner fees from £2.15 to £2.40 in primary schools and from £2.25 to £2.50 in secondary schools – £181,000

Cutting opening hours of hubs in line with demand, and introduce self-serve at Rainbow and Neptune libraries and reduce opening hours of other libraries in line with demand – £270,000

Introducing a £1 charge at Captain Cook Car Park as a replacement to the three hours of free parking – £200,000

Scaling back spending by £15m in Highways Repairs and Maintenance to £7.5m – £162,000 saving in financing costs