COUNCIL bosses have finally fixed a dangerous overhanging light fitting – despite nobody knowing who owns it.

John Davis flagged up the broken light which is dangling at head height above a stairwell which leads down from Eld Lane to a private car park between Osborne Street and Vineyard Gate in Colchester.

The problem was initially reported to Colchester Council, and zone wardens came out to photograph the issue but said they could not fix it because they did not own the stairwell.

Early investigations by the authority showed the building belonged to Friends Provident – a company owned by Aviva.

However after being approached by The Gazette, the insurance giant said they had no record of owning or managing any stairwell in the town centre.

The car park is used by staff and volunteers at the Lion Walk United Reform Church and Colchester Baptist Church, but nobody had any knowledge of who was in charge of the stairwell but agreed improvements were needed to make it safe.

Bosses at the Lion Walk Shopping Centre, where the stairwell leads to, have also tried to find out who is in charge, but confirmed it had nothing to do with them.

Mr Davis’ own research led him to asking Canadian financial services co-operation the Bank of Montreal who had no record of owning any buildings in the area.

But a week after he first reported it, Mr Davis received a call from Colchester Council to say they would be able to remove the light fitting - despite the mystery around the ownership.

He said: “I got the call more than a week after reporting it to say it has been removed.

“They still do not know who it belongs to.”

Mr Davis, 74, said it was crucial to determine who owns the stairwell so it could be cleaned up.

He said: “It is a mystery – it is not as if the stairwell would have been sold off itself in isolation.

“If you stood and counted I think 1,000 people would go up and down the stairs each day with even more at the weekend.

“But there is a bigger problem than just the damage.

“The lights haven’t worked for months or years.

“It is filthy – it is a urinal and it looks like when people are drunk it is a place where they go to vomit.”

A Colchester Council spokesman said the light had been removed due to safety fears.

He said: “We can confirm that the light fitting was removed on Wednesday.

“This was due to concerns about public safety following discussion with Lion Walk management.

“We are continuing to investigate who owns the light.”