Street lighting in Sheffield is set to undergo a transformation after a five-year plan to improve the streets, pavements and roads in the city was announced by council authorities.

Sheffield Council will work with contractor Amey on the £2 billion Streets Ahead scheme, which aims to overhaul the inner-city streets and roads by 2017. Areas lying outside the centre will also be treated to a spruce up, with Shiregreen already seeing work being undertaken.

One of the major improvements will be the addition of LED lighting across the city's lamp posts, with 58,000 pencilled in for installation over the next five years.

Fans of Sheffield City Council planning applications will already have noticed that the 58,000 figure is some short of the existing incandescent lamp posts already functioning in the city. You're probably laughing to yourself about it right now. "58,000 lampposts?" you ask, incredulously. "To light a city the size of Sheffield?"

Well, yes. Contractor Amey stressed that one of the advantages of using LED light bulbs was that fewer units were needed to satisfactorily light the same area of metropolitan streets.

"The lamp posts will be locally manufactured and have a 50-year lifespan," said Amey spokesperson Mike Notman. "The lamps themselves will each have between ten and 52 individual LED lights, which use 60 per cent less energy than current bulbs and give a crisper, clearer light."

And the contractor noted the flexibility of such LED fixtures meant the council could save further money as a result of their installation.

"They can also be turned down late at night to save energy," he said, "and we are expecting far fewer complaints about lights not working because the LEDs will last 25 years."

A further advantage is the orange glare from traditional lampposts, which reflects onto the nearby Peak District at night, will be eradicated with the use of white LED bulbs.

Money saved from the annual electricity bill for street lighting - thought to be £3 million presently, but expected to drop to £1.2 million after installation - will be funnelled back into the project, and go towards creating some of the 400 jobs on offer in the area.