Worried residents fear crime rates will rise when more than 500 streets in Epsom and Ewell are to be plunged into darkness next month as the county council attempts to balance its budget.
Surrey County Council has announced which street lights will be turned off across the borough between midnight and 5am from January 2017.
The phased night lighting programme in Epsom and Ewell follows mass reductions in Guildford, Surrey Heath and Waverley.
Between December and February, more than 40,000 streetlights across Surrey will be turned off in the early hours.
Joe Bates, 52, a retailer who lives in College ward in Epsom, said he and his neighbours only found out about the council’s plans when they received leaflets from Epsom and Ewell Borough Councillors over the weekend.
“It will cause the crime to go up like nothing,” he said.
“It is ridiculous.”
Surrey County Councillor for Epsom and Ewell, Eber Kington admitted it was a “worrying situation” for residents.
Elmbridge, Mole Valley, and Reigate and Banstead residents will also see lights turned off in January, while streetlights in Runnymede, Spelthorne, Tandridge and Woking are scheduled to go out in February.
A council spokesman confirmed that the council expected the programme to save £210,000 annually.
From December: Surrey County Council forced to dip into 'largest ever use of reserves' to address £15 million overspend
Last month it emerged that Surrey County Council had been forced to use £24.8 million of reserves – its largest ever planned use of reserves – after the council announced it had blown its budget by £15 million this year.
Cllr Kington (pictured above), added: “It was probably an inevitability (that the lights would be switched off).
“Money must be saved, but it is a worrying situation for people who want that safety and security.”
The council chose the roads to have their lights turned off following a consultation with Surrey Police about areas with high and low crime levels.
Mole Valley Councillor Stephen Cooksey's asked for details of the roads where night lighting would be reduced at a council meeting in July.
In response, the council leader, David Hodge (pictured above), said that lights would not be switched off in “high volume traffic routes, areas with speed humps, town centres, pedestrian crossings and area that police have indicated have high levels of crime”.
This month, a county council spokesman added: “Due to the ever-increasing demand for our services coupled with a reduction in government funding, we will be switching off streetlights in quiet areas with low amounts of traffic in the early hours of the morning.
“This is expected to save £210,000 a year.”
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