STREET lights will stay on across Colchester last night.

The part-night lighting scheme from Essex County Council was due to begin at midnight.

But an eleventh-hour challenge to the decision to switch out lights owned by the authority until 5am has delayed the project.

The scheme, which will see all lights turned off except for those in the town centre and at key road junctions, will save £132,000, part of a total £1million saving across the county. The stay of execution for the town’s lights was confirmed yesterday.