EMPLOYEES at Warrington tips are campaigning to get lighting installed so that the service can be kept open to the public for longer during the dark winter nights.

A petition of more than 1,000 names of users of Gatewarth tip in Sankey Bridges, New Cut Lane tip in Woolston, and Sandy Lane tip in Stockton Heath has been put together in a bid to get the new facilities introduced.

Lee Metcalfe, site attendant at Gatewarth tip, said: "We shut at 4pm every day but if we had lighting it would mean we could stay open until 6pm or 8pm.

"I think we are a bit behind the times, as I know that Halton tip has lighting.

"This has been fought for before but nothing has ever happened. This time we will carry on getting more signatures before handing over the petition to the council."

A spokesman for Warrington Borough Council, which owns the site, said: "We do intend to carry out a customer satisfaction survey to gauge how to get the best out of the sites.

"Extending the opening times in winter may not be utilizing the sites ideally as there is a lower use during November and December. The tips are also under-used during the week - most people visit on Saturdays and Sundays.

"We need to find out if customers are satisfied generally or if they have any problems. It would only be then that things such as lighting would be considered."