On Monday 21 November, Council officers discovered a section of lights next to a Redway had been tampered with causing a safety risk to the public.
Panels on the street lights had been prised off and the wires inside tampered with possibly in order to access the power supply. Three columns in total were damaged costing the Council an estimated £4-£5k to repair and replace.
This resulted in a section of Redway between Coffee Hall and the hospital being unlit for several days.
Council officers along with highway service provider Ringway attended the area to assess the damage and estimate the cost of repairing the columns. During this inspection staff were verbally abused and threatened.
Cllr Martin Gowans, Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Highways said “This type of damage is not only a criminal offence, it’s also very dangerous.”
“Unfortunately there are a minority of people who are willing to put themselves and others at risk”
“The Council frequently has to bear the cost of damage like this to public equipment and services – money which could be put to better use elsewhere”.
