There are 64,000 streetlights in Leicestershire, and around 11,500 illuminated traffic signs, but did you know that a team of six men have the mammoth task of keeping the lights bright 365 nights a year?

The best time of day to spot whether streetlights aren’t working, is of course when it’s dark. This is when the street lighting scouts go out and about, literally spotting any lights that aren’t working.  The whole county is covered clockwise, on a two week cycle.

The scouts' reports of faulty streetlights are then passed to one of the four street lighting electricians, and along with any reports from the public that have come in via Roadline, all faulty streetlights are mended within 4 working days of the fault being reported.  Occasionally, an electrician might come across a fault that needs to be sorted by the local electricity supplier.  A sign is put up on the streetlight column to explain this, so it is not reported faulty again.

Sometimes though, the problem is an emergency, for example a road traffic collision involving a car crashing into a streetlight.  One of the County’s electricians is on call 24 hours a day, so the police can contact them if this happens.

A car accident can result in a lighting column lying across the road, or dangerous live wires being exposed.  This kind of problem has to be responded to in two hours, so whatever time of day or night, the street lighting electrician has to be ready to go out.

Mark Seaton, Street Lighting Electrician, who has been doing the job since 1975, said: “It has never has been a 9-5 job, and I can be called out at any time.  Last year, I got called out three times on Christmas Day, twice on Boxing Day and once at 11:15pm on New Year’s Eve – the festivities were all over by the time I got back! My main priority is always to make the scene safe for the public and our emergency services.”

It is not just the odd working hours that a street lighting electrician has to deal with, there’s also the added obstacle of heights.  Leicestershire’s streetlights range from 5m to 12m depending on where they are situated. Mark Seaton’s Mercedes Van has a 16m cherry picker lift on top (and 410,000 on the clock!).  The extra height on the cherry picker means he can manoeuvre over parked cars and other obstacles if necessary.

A days work normally consists of mending about 40-50 street lights – from simply replacing bulbs (all old bulbs are recycled) to seeing to the effects of an act of vandalism (doors get ripped off lighting columns, exposing dangerous wires).

Next time you are driving home from work, spare a thought for the men out there keeping our roads safer by making sure our streetlights are bright.

Anyone wishing to report a street lighting fault or problem can call Roadline on 0800 62 62 03 or can complete the defect reporting form