9:46am Thursday 9th September 2010
THE Government has rejected a bid by East Yorkshire MP Greg Knight to keep motorway lighting switched on in the early hours.
The MP called on roads minister Mike Penning in a Commons question to tell the Highways Agency, which is responsible for the nation’s most important roads, that road safety should be more important than the reduction of light pollution and the lights should stay on between midnight and 5am.
But the minister wrote in reply that the move by the agency was to reduce carbon emissions and that it was carefully monitoring motorway sections where road lighting was off between midnight and 5am.
The minister also rejected a bid by Mr Knight to make the Government tell local authorities not to black out highways at night, saying it was a matter for local decision.
The exchange occurred as county councils come under fire for cutting back on street lighting to save money.
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