A PENSIONER says she may have to begin sleeping in her car because blinding lights put up during the construction of a £1.9million cycle path shine directly into her home.

The resident, 67, who has lived on Colchester Road, Wivenhoe, since 1989 says she has been limited to just two hours sleep per night since the lights were switched on during the construction of the new cycle path which connects the town to the University of Essex.

The lights switch on just after 8pm but turn off between 1am and 5am as part of Essex County Council’s part night lighting scheme.

But she said she has still resorted to trying to block out the light by draping dark towels and bed sheets across the windows, as well as asking the council dozens of times to dim the lights so her and her husband can sleep.

“How would it look on the council if a pensioner has to start sleeping in her car, because that is what it is coming to” she said.

“I must have phoned the council more than a hundred times to complain but I just get passed around.

“This has been going on since December with light shining right into my bedroom meaning I can only get two hours sleep per night.

“They come on at 8.10pm and after that there is no need to put any lights on in the house.

“The council has told me they have dimmed the level of the lights but it just has not happened. They are treating me and my husband like idiots.

“If you saw it you would not believe it, the lights shine on the pond outside the patio door and reflect back on the ceiling.”

County councillor for the area Julie Young has visited the couple to look at the scale of the problem and wants to see the lights turned off while a solution to dim the brightness can be found.

She said: “They describe it as like trying to sleep under floodlights at a football stadium and the council has got some issues relating to the ongoing brightness of the LED lights.

“They are very, very bright and the county council is committed to trying to reduce the level to 25 per cent of what it is currently but these things do take time.”

Mrs Young added light covers to deflect the brightness onto the road had been ordered to try and fix the problem.