BUSINESS owners in Middlewich are afraid to leave their shops in the evening due to several faulty street lights in the area.

Staff from shops along Hightown, including Colorz hair salon and Accord Clinic, say that there has been no lighting in the that area of the town since August this year and say they feel vulnerable when locking up at the end of the day.

Frances Cowper, owner of Accord Clinic, said she has been contacting Cheshire East Council to ask for the lights to be fixed since she noticed the problem in the summer but has had no luck.

Frances said: “It’s dangerous and because of it we’re all vulnerable in the shops along this street.

“I keep asking Cheshire East Council to sort it and they keep saying they’re looking at it, but they’ve been looking at it since August and it’s not getting any lighter.


“There are street lights along there and they just need switching on.


“I have been mugged in my clinic before and I have got a history of 23 break-ins in my home so I know full well that these things do happen and locking up your shop in darkness is just asking for it.

“Business owners around here are now shutting early so they don’t have to leave in the dark and they’re losing business because of it.”

Tracey Hornby, owner of Colorz, described leaving her salon at night as ‘very intimidating.’

She said: “It is very dark and very intimidating. I don’t finish until 9pm some nights and you can’t see anything. I park at the back of my shop and I have to walk up the backstreet to get there – it’s really scary.”

Cheshire East Council claims that it has attempted to repair the lights on several occasions but had to abandon the work due to traffic congestion.

A spokesman for Cheshire East Council said: “We are aware that one light at Hightown, Middlewich is not working and there are two lanterns on The Bullring in need of repair.

“We have already made several attempts to repair the light in Hightown but its location, on a single-lane stretch of road, with parked vehicles, has resulted in traffic congestion and the work had to be abandoned. In the interests of safety for everyone, we now intend to repair this light at a quieter time.

“Cheshire East Council are currently programming the repair of the lights in The Bullring.”