WORK is under way to install more street lights in Hartlepool to help thwart crime.

New lamps and lampposts are now being fitted in parts of the D and E blocks of the Owton Manor estate and also in Bonnyrigg Walk.

The improvements will be carried out during the next couple of months and will cost £35,000.

The work is being funded by the Owton Rossmere Single Regeneration Budget Partnership and Hartlepool Borough Council's Local Transport Plan.

It is an extension of a seven-year £500,000 scheme in which improved street lights have already been installed around the Owton Manor area.

The new 6m high tubular steel lampposts are galvanised to protect them against rust. They are fitted with modern sodium lamps, which have vandal-resistant lenses and give out a much brighter light.

They will take the place of concrete or steel columns which are shorter and are corroding.

Stuart Green, Owton Rossmere Partnership manager, said: "Good street lighting does deter crime and helps people feel safer."