A BARNARD Castle resident has set up a petition to change new LED street lights after claiming they are so dim it is “like stepping back into the Victorian days”.

Mark Carter, 45, created the petition, calling for Durham County Council to change the white energy saving lights to orange one after they were installed in streets such as Green Lane, Dale Road, Hilton Road and Churchill Road.

Mr Carter, who has also set up a Facebook page, said several residents had complained and that he was concerned for his mother, Christine Carter, 67, who lives in one of the affected streets.

“I totally agree that they last longer and it’s less power, but the LEDs in Darlington are far superior to ours – if you saw them you would be quite shocked,” he said.

“You cannot see ahead of you and it’s the vulnerable you worry about - my mum said it’s frightening.”

“People have already fallen over because they cannot see the curb below them.”

He added: “If you had those lights all over town it’s going to be like stepping back into the Victorian days.”

Barnard Castle town councillor, Thom Robinson, said the lights were installed just before bonfire night and he had not had any complaints.

“Certainly we did not have any complaints with regards to people getting to the bonfire which was a lot of people moving around,” he said.

“Personally I’m happy to see a shift to eco efficient lighting which not only will reduce the electricity used but will also save us a lot of money in tax.”

John Reed, Durham County Council’s head of technical services, said the council had installed 17,000 LED street lights throughout County Durham which met current British Standards and replaced the old lights which did not.

He also said the council would carry out an inspection in Barnard Castle to make sure the lights were working properly to “allay concerns residents may have”.

“The new LED street lights provide ‘white light’ which gives much better colour rendition allowing the naked eye to distinguish more easily between different colours,” he said.

“The uniformity of light distribution is also better with the new LED street lights.

“It is important to note that street lighting is only supposed to light the road and footway and the new LED street lights achieve this objective very well due to the enhanced control provided by LED technology.”