Beccles residents angry at lightbulb fiasco

How long does it take to change a lightbulb? In one Beccles street, the answer is 15 months – only for it to go out two days later.

It may sound like a joke, but for the people of Fair Close it was no laughing matter. They thought that their problem had finally been solved when workers changed all of the lightbulbs in their street, but hours later the light had gone out again. Now they are urging Suffolk County Council to solve the issue to ensure their safety.

The light first went out in November 2009 but after being kept in the dark for so long they thought help was at hand when they saw a gang of workers arrive on their street last Tuesday.

Resident Phillip Page said: 'We were amazed to see there were five men to put this lightbulb in – two vans and one car, and one supervisor – but it is out already.'

The men changed all of the bulbs in the street, but while the others are still shining bright, this troublesome lamp has remained off.

Julie Bartram said: 'It went out in November 2009. I thought someone else had reported it, but I officially did in March 2010. We waited and waited, and I kept ringing. We were given one date before Christmas but due to bad weather they did not get around to it. They fixed it last Tuesday but it went again by Thursday.'

Although annoyed by the situation, Mrs Bartram is most concerned about the safety of her neighbours. 'We have a neighbour in her eighties and she comes in at 10pm three times a week because of dialysis,' she said. 'It is pitch black and only a matter of time before she falls. Somebody else has fallen over, it's dangerous. We can't see anything.'

A spokesman for Suffolk County Council said: 'As the street light in question is very close to overhead power lines, we will have to work with UK Power Networks when dealing with this re-occurring fault for safety reasons.

'This means establishing the work schedule of their overhead lines team and waiting for a response from them as to when this light can be visited again. With this in mind, it is unfortunate that we cannot give an exact time scale of when the work will be completed.'