MORE than 2,000 Torfaen street lights could be fitted with dimming controls as the councilmoves on to the next stage of decommissioning.

Thousands of street lights have been switched off in Torfaen since it started the scheme in February 2009 in a bid to reduce its carbon footprint and help with budgetary pressures.

All wards in Torfaen now have lights that are either lit all night, part night-lit or switched off completely.

There are 3,283 lights completely switched off and 3,664 changed to part night, which together have saved the council £178,000 in costs compared to 2008/09.

A report by the council’s neighbourhood services department states there is no direct evidence to show that the changes to street lighting have had a direct impact on overall crime levels in the borough. Torfaen council’s cabinet will nowbe asked on Tuesday to approve the start of the next phase of decommissioning.

One proposal for the next phase is to add dimming controls to 2,330 lighting columns.

This would allow lamps to be dimmed from midnight to 6am to reduce energy consumption by 33 per cent, making a predicted annual saving of £41,711.

The second proposal is to replace existing lamps at 1,920 lights with low energy lamps to save £43,395 annually.

A grant of £599,790 fromthe Welsh Government would be used towards the work if cabinet members approve the work on Tuesday.

This loan would be paid back over a period of six years.