Residents on a street in west London are complaining that the new LED street lights that have been installed in their street are that bright that it is beginning to affect their lives. The LED lights themselves stand 8 meters tall and were installed nearly three weeks ago.

Since they have been installed residents have been trying to do anything possible to combat the bright light such as blacking out their windows with blackout blinds and black cardboard to try and reduce the bright glare.

A resident of the street said “It’s like a great big spotlight beaming into your face when you’re trying to relax with your family and watch TV in the evening.”

Another resident said that he feels like he is in World War Two as they are living in darkness to reduce the brightness of the lights and they have no idea what’s going to happen In the upcoming weeks.

Hounslow Council plans to install LED street lighting throughout the borough and has looked at the idea of dimming the streetlights to deal with the problem.

It is not thought the problem is down to the use of LED lighting in general however when you begin to weigh up the pros and cons of LED street lighting it is been seen that there was not enough spill light from some of the LED luminaires.

Eddie Henry, operations manager at Southwark Council in London said, “We need a bit of spilled light so people can see as they leave the public highway and step across their gate, and it doesn’t go from being very light to completely dark very quickly.” 

The LED is very much predetermined by design; it allows you to put the light exactly where you want it,” he said. “So, in an average street, it will punch the light down to the road but the houses behind would be left in comparative darkness.

To watch the BBC London report about the Hounslow street lights, click here.