Pavement lamp-post not a bright idea, residents say

A lamp-post placed in the middle of a pavement is set to be moved after residents in a Lincolnshire town said it was difficult to get past.

The street light in Market Rasen was taken down in January to allow Northern Powergrid to repair a faulty electricity cable, but was put back up again in October in a new position on Gordon Field.

Lincolnshire County Council said the cable had been moved to the back of the footpath and it was unable to place the lamppost as far forward as it had hoped.

The authority said it was looking at options to move it again, with hopes the issue could be corrected in late January.

Andrew Riesner, who is a wheelchair user, said his chair could pass the lamp-post, but the pavement is on an angle with a dipped curb.

"The steeper it obviously goes, the more unstable the chair becomes," he said.

John Patterson said he noticed the issue when he spotted an electric wheelchair user having trouble getting past it.

"It's a mystery to me," he said.

"They turn the street lights out at midnight to save cash, so it's invisible at night.

"All around here, these are all elderly people's homes."

Jessie Mawer said: "It's a bit silly, isn't it?

"Why they didn't put it two feet further in where it was before."

Her friend Shirley Ward agreed, adding: "Anyone with a pushchair, a wheelchair or anything, they nearly have to go on the road."

Northern Powergrid said the repair had involved a 11,000-volt cable which required excavation so engineers could access and repair it safely.

Street lighting is managed by the local council, it added.

A spokesperson for Lincolnshire County Council said: "We're looking at options to relocate the column to a more suitable location, and in the meantime convert it from a part-night light to an all-night light whilst it is in this position on the pathway.

"Provided we can get permission from Northern PowerGrid, we can work on the street light in late January."

Listen to highlights fromLincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch thelatest episode of Look Northor tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.

Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices