THE future is brighter for Gloucestershire following the county's £5 million cash boost to improve street lighting.

A successful bid was made by the county council to the government;s Local Highways Maintenance Challenge Fund which is a pot of money earmarked for one-off major infrastructure schemes across the UK.

In Gloucestershire this will be used to put in a central system to allow automatic control of streetlights and reporting of faults.

The award means that money set aside by the local authority for street light works will now be redirected for use in road maintenance instead.

The street lighting project will include the replacement all of the county’s concrete and aluminium columns with galvanised steel columns which are stronger, have a longer life and are better value for money.

There are around 60,000 streetlights in Gloucestershire which consume around £2.4 million of power each year. With electricity costs rising sharply the county council is already committed to converting street lighting to LED which are more environmentally friendly and cost less for local taxpayers.

The work is expected to start this summer and take four years to complete. However, the announcement has an added bonus because money that had previously been set aside to pay for the street lighting works can now be redirected into road maintenance instead.

Councillor Vernon Smith, cabinet member for highways and flood said: “LED street lighting uses less electricity reducing carbon emissions and saving money for taxpayers by cutting the electric bill. We’re delighted that our bid has been successful because we can now strengthen our existing plans for LED replacement and bring a more cost effective service for residents. It also allows us to divert more cash into fixing our roads over the next year.”