Council's plan to turn off streetlights at night will make it more difficult to catch criminals, say police

In a newly shared letter, Superintendent Wendy Tinkler urged councillors on February 24, to hold a further consultation on budget proposals to switch off around half of street lights in less used spaces between midnight and 6am. Three days later, on February 27, the council voted to approve the budget – 20 politicians were in favour and 18, including all of the Labour Group, abstained.

Coun Chris Cooke, Labour’s mayoral candidate, has claimed the switch off is a terrible error of judgement by Independent Middlesbrough mayor Andy Preston, however, he has responded by stating he is working hard to find money so the council can keep the lights on.

The letter states: “Darkness in built-up areas can contribute to feelings of personal insecurity and produces favourable conditions for offenders to commit crime. Darkness will restrict CCTV capabilities and therefore will impact on opportunities to identify offenders and bring them to justice.

“Cleveland Police are strongly objecting to the proposal to switch off night lighting in the proposed wards and would respectfully request the members consider a more appropriate consultation period, involving partner agencies, to achieve a sound evidence base for their decision to either support or decline this proposal.”

Supt Tinkler is especially concerned about lights being switched off in Newport and Central wards due to high crime rates, where it’s been suggested 52 per cent and 37 per cent could be turned off, respectively. Cleveland had the highest crime rate in England and Wales with 134.9 offences per 1,000 people in the year ending 2022.

Middlesbrough has the highest rates of deprivation and serious violence with two-thirds of that concentrated in Central and Newport wards. According to the letter, Central and Newport wards together account for:

16 per cent of serious violence in Cleveland17 per cent of violence with injury offences in Cleveland17 per cent of rape offences in Cleveland24 per cent of robbery offences in Cleveland14 per cent of arson endangering life offences in ClevelandAt an overview and scrutiny committee meeting last month, Coun Mick Saunders raised his concern about the proposals and asked the mayor if this would lead to a blackout.

Mr Preston confirmed that the town would not be plunged into blackness and any suggestion it would is “absurd”. He said the worst hours for anti-social behaviour were “five, six, seven o’clock at night” and that “very very little crime happens at two in the morning”.

The mayor added that he was sure council teams would work to identify areas where crime does happen in the early hours to make sure they remain lit.

In the police letter, it states: “Overall analysis of when violent offences are being committed demonstrate peak times between the hours of 22.00 and 04.00 hrs with a third of serious violence taking place in public.

“This analysis has provided specific recommendations to support the reduction of violent crime, one of which is to review the current CCTV capabilities and street lighting in specific areas.”

Prior to the budget vote, Labour called for a u-turn on the street light proposals and the party has now blasted the mayor once again. Cllr Cooke said “Andy Preston needs to reverse this decision immediately. He has consistently played down the impact of switching off the lights and now we see the evidence that Middlesbrough Labour was right to oppose this policy.

“The report from Cleveland Police is a 100 per cent vindication of our campaign and it shows how out of touch with reality the Mayor is that his attitude has been so relaxed about this when his decision to plunge Middlesbrough into darkness is a clear and present danger to the safety of our communities.

“This decision was a terrible error of judgement by Andy Preston and Tory/Independent councillors. My message to Mr Preston is clear: axe these plans now before a serious incident occurs.”

However, Mr Preston has hit back. He said: “I urge the public not to listen to more of these Labour Party lies. They’re determined to stir up trouble and distort the truth – all because there’s an election coming.

“I definitely don’t want to turn off any of our lights between midnight and 6am or at all. So I’m working hard to find the money so that we don’t need to switch them off.

“I’m confident we won’t end up reducing any street lighting and I can definitely guarantee that no lights will be switched off in the next six months. Along with council colleagues, I’m in constant discussions with the police about this and other issues. Hopefully people will ignore the troublemakers – I’m working hard for Middlesbrough to win jobs, bring investment and make us live within our financial means.”