COUNCILLORS have conducted a walk around Barry at midnight after receiving complaints about pitch black streets.

Plaid Cymru councillors have said that they have heard complaints from people concerned about being plunged into darkness by the Vale council's part night lighting scheme - a money saving measure introduced this June.

The decision was made in October 2014 that certain parts of Barry would have their street lights turned off between midnight and 6am in a move expected to save some £371,862 in energy costs and 1,338 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

Plaid Cymru councillors Ian Johnson, Shirley Hodges, Steffan Wiliam and Nic Hodges spent a Saturday night seeing first hand exactly how the switch off was affecting their wards.

Town centre Cllr Ian Johnson said: "I started to receive complaints from local residents around a month ago, from people of different ages.

"Some older people expressed concern that they cannot see outside their own homes, others who work shifts told me that they are going to work or coming home from work in absolute darkness.

“We were surprised to see that some parts of Barry have been plunged into darkness whilst others are still fully lit. This makes no sense, aren’t we all paying our council tax?"

Cllr Hodges added: “As a woman it was very frightening to find myself in streets where not a single street-light was on. Obviously, I was in the presence of friends and colleagues, but we couldn’t see people coming towards us on the street or see the difference between the road and the pavement. I wouldn’t like to be a single woman walking those streets alone.

“The Vale Council should be putting people’s safety first, not their need to make cuts.”

Cllr Steffan Wiliam said: "No doubt there will be mixed feelings about this switch off from the public, but it is clear the maps issued by the Vale on their web site are pretty useless.

In a response to the complaints councillor Gwyn John, cabinet member for visible services and leisure, said: "A project board comprised of key stakeholders including South Wales Police, the Safer Vale Partnership, and road safety officers was established to roll out the scheme.

"The group devised criteria to determine which lights could be safely turned off and roads were assessed before the rollout began."