A LEADING councillor fighting for Colchester’s street lights to be turned back on at night says one report will not change his mind.

The University College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine showed a number of crimes reduced when street lights were switched off and there was no impact on crashes.

They studied 14 years of data from 62 councils, including Essex.

Essex County Council has turned off about seven in ten of Colchester’s street lights from 1am to 5am, but Colchester Council wants to pay £185,000 a year to turn them back on.

TimYoung, borough councillor responsible for community safety, said the authority will continue its fight for light.

He said: “This report and it conflicts with other reports such as the AA and the College of Policing. It is not definitive.

“Where the public want the lights back on, they should have them.

“Turning them on along 40mph routes would be a start.

“You need to consider the will of the people, the perception and the fear of crime.

“One report won’t change my mind.”

Mr Young said the death of Nick Sherwood, who was hit by a car in the unlit Avenue of Remembrance in February this year, shows the lights should be turned on.

An inquest has not yet been held into his death.

Mr Young said: “The biggest evidence is when you speak to the family of Nick Sherwood. I drive by the memorial every day and it is a constant reminder.”

The report, published in the Journal of Epidemiology, looked at statistics for burglary, car theft, robbery, violence and sexual assault, showed these crimes had gone down.

Nick Alston, Essex’s police commissioner, has welcomed the report. He said: “While the report does not claim 100 per cent reliability as a number of local authorities failed to supply data, it concludes there is no evidence part night lighting has led to either an increase or a decrease in road traffic collisions.

“It draws attention to the important point that as part night lighting is introduced local authorities have conducted risk assessments to ensure riskier areas of road, for example those close to junctions, remain lit.

“The analysis also shows crime actually reduces slightly, though there are one or two anomalies.

"The analysis of the data in Essex tends to support these findings though I still consider the sample size of data we can work with in Essex to be too small to draw firm conclusions.