FURIOUS Booth Lane residents have branded the decision to switch off street lights on the main road between Middlewich and Sandbach as ‘crazy’.

A section of the route has been plunged into darkness at night as part of Cheshire East Council’s plans to save money and be more green.

As reported in the Guardian, Booth Lane is considered to be an accident blackspot and its speed limits are set to be cut by April.

But the day after the story was published, a 28-year-old woman highlighted the dangers of the route when she lost control of her Mazda 3 and it went into the canal near the Albion Chemicals site.

Jane Stanier, whose parents James and Muriel Barron live in Booth Lane, said: “We’re fighting because of how bad the road is.

“It’s renowned for accidents. It needs a speed limit reduction because cars bolt up that road and then they switch the lights off. It’s crazy.

“It’s pitch black in the evening and yet the road is used 24 hours a day and it’s not just cars, there’s HGVs. It’s the main road to Sandbach.”

Mr Barron added: “My wife’s lived in Booth Lane all her life and we’ve never been without street lighting.

“Just out of the blue they went out with no warning. It’s a notorious road and always has been.

“It was only on Thursday evening that someone went in the canal and with the winter nights coming they couldn’t have been switched off at a worse time.”

The street lights have been turned off in Booth Lane between the start of the 60mph zone and the Tetton Bridge crossroads.

Town Mayor Simon McGrory said: “Following the recent accident, lighting on this stretch needs to be reviewed urgently.

“I completely agree we have to look at saving money and if that means we have to make a decision on what we do with street lighting I can support that as long as it’s not to the detriment of residents living in built up areas.

“But should areas present problems with lights being turned off, Cheshire East Council should look at that straight away.”

Clr Rod Menlove, cabinet member for environmental services, said: “These changes are just part of our ongoing drive to reduce our energy consumption across the borough.

“I want to reassure residents that we will choose the most suitable approach for where they live.

“We have successfully trialled changes to street lighting in Wilmslow where 80 per cent of the local community was behind the scheme.

“There is absolutely no evidence that switching off street lights on stretches of roads has a detrimental effect on road safety and, in fact, has improved road safety in many areas."

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CHESHIRE East Council has written to Middlewich Town Council about how lighting changes could affect the town.

Borough chiefs have reassured residents that a ‘suitable approach’ is being used to choose routes between towns with a small number of homes for a switch off.

They also say that those areas will be clearly marked with warning signs.

Where there are a large number of homes on a route then lights will remain switched on.

Other lights will be dimmed to operate at 60 per cent of their normal strength on routes where safety issues mean it isn’t suitable to switch lighting off.

Other lights will operate on a part-time basis where lights automatically turn off at midnight and come back on between 5.30am and 6.30am. This will mainly be used in housing estates.

The lights being switched off are expected to be removed at a later date.

Cheshire East Highways has consulted with Cheshire Police and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service regarding the proposals and there have been no objections.