By Isle of Wight Observer
Residents in Cowes, Northwood, and Gurnard have been living in the ‘land of the eternal sun,’ due to a fault with their street-lights.
The lights, intended to guide late-night wanderers leaving local hostelries, have remained brightly lit all day and all night.
One resident, who called Island Roads to report the issue over a month ago, reported a brief reprieve when the problem was said to be resolved. However, the daytime glare of the street-lights quickly returned. Worried that local council taxpayers might be responsible for the extra electricity being used, he asked the IW Observer to shed some light on the issue.
An Island Roads spokesman assured us they have now flicked the right switch. He explained: “There has been an issue with the street-lights in Cowes, Northwood and Gurnard which, working with our supplier, we believe has now been fixed.
“Lights can be on during the day for two reasons. Firstly, lights will default to ‘on’ if a problem in the system is detected as doing so is clearly safer than defaulting to an ‘off’ position. Secondly, following disruption to the electrical supply, lights will remain on while they reconnect to the wider system.
“All electricity costs are met by Island Roads, although savings made through efficiencies are shared with the IW Council.”
Our reader was relieved that our cash-strapped council wasn’t having to hoard £1 coins to feed the meter, but said he will miss the 24-hour glow in his Cowes street. “It’s been quite handy, to be fair,” he joked. “I’ve saved a fortune on my own electricity bill – I haven’t turned on any lights in the house for ages!” Others are waiting with bated breath – and sunglasses – to see if Island Roads’ latest “fix” will truly dim the problem.
