THE council has been replacing street lighting at Birchwood and all along Birchwood Way.

The old hockey-stick shaped sodium lampposts used to reach out from the kerb over the road but the new posts are rom-rod straight leaving the less effective LED lamps high up in the tree tops with the leaves and branches preventing the light from reaching the road.

Hampshire County Council’s guidance to their designers requires any lampposts located among the trees to have one-metre clearance above them and the lamps to be clearly visible when standing at the mid-point between the columns.

Either incorrect replacements have been ordered or Warrington Borough Council is planning to spend any council tax savings from the new lighting on chopping down and pruning the trees every year.

M WARBURTON