Street light problem is resolved

A software issue which saw more than 7,000 local streetlights switching themselves on and off across Bridgend County Borough has been resolved.

The UK-wide problem, which was also reported in areas such as Manchester and Bristol, began on the evening of 13 January and went on throughout the early hours until dawn on 14 January.

It is believed to have only affected street lights which use global positioning technology to calculate what time the sun rises and sets.

While these lights are in use within communities located all across the county borough, the rest of the area’s 20,000 streetlights, which are capable of detecting low light levels, continued to work as normal.

The problem was resolved after Bridgend County Borough Council’s Street Lighting team contacted the manufacturers of the affected street lights, who were able to reset them.

Councillor Richard Young, Cabinet Member for Communities, said: “I’m pleased that this issue was resolved quickly. We have request a full explanation for why it took place along with reassurances that it will not happen again.

“The vast majority of our street lights use photocells to determine when they need to switch on and off, but around a third carry out this same function using global positioning technology, and these were the ones affected by the glitch.”