RESIDENTS from two villages have staged a walk to protest against the removal of street lights.

The lights have been taken from the short stretch between Sherburn Village and Sherburn Hill as part of Durham County Council’s street lighting energy reduction project, which is aimed at reducing carbon emissions and save almost £24million over 25 years.

But residents are concerned that in the winter the path is not safe to use because it so dark in the evenings.

The path is well used by people from Sherburn Hill due to the lack of amenities in the village.

Angela Leary, from Sherburn Village, who arranged the walk, said: “They took the lights out over several months but it’s more noticeable now the nights are darker.

“It’s pitch black walking up and down and its the road to school now the school on the hill is shut.

“There’s no doctors surgery up there either so people have to walk up and down for that.

“The people who are using it don’t have money to use the bus. It’s only a short distance but when it’s dark it’s dangerous.”

Ali Curtis, from Sherburn Hill, added: “The council said when they shut the school that it was a safe walking distance to Sherburn Village school but if any of the children stay back for after school clubs they would have to walk back up to the hill and its dark at 4pm in the winter.

“A lot of adults use it as well because we no longer have a pub on the hill so people drink at the pubs and workingmen’s club in Sherburn.”

Street lights are being removed all over County Durham, with about 3,000 identified as being safe to take out.

John Reed, the council’s head of technical services, said: “Some of the street lights between Sherburn Village and Sherburn Hill have been removed as part of our countywide street lighting energy reduction project. This has been in line with our street lighting policy which we consulted extensively on.

“The safety of our residents is one of our key priorities and we would like to assure the community that only after a thorough risk assessment by an independent road safety auditor, we found these lights could be safely removed. We will not be removing lights in any residential areas, roundabouts, major junctions or where there are proven road safety and crime issues.

“This is the final year of the six year project which aims to reduce carbon emissions and save £24 million over the next 25 years.”