BRAINTREE MP Brooks Newmark has slammed Essex County Council's proposals to switch off selected street lights after midnight as "disastrous".
From September 1 council-owned street lamps in the town will be turned off until 5am in a bid to save £90,000 a year.
Once fully operational across the county, the switch-off would shave 20 per cent off the council's annual £4.5 million energy bill.
Mr Newmark said: "I'm completely opposed this – it's an absolutely disastrous idea – mainly for security reasons.
"Lots of people walk home at night and not everyone has their own car, especially in winter months.
"Don't just switch off all the lights, come up with other energy-saving devices, like energy efficient light bulbs or only switching off every other light in a street.
"I'm all for energy-saving and money-saving moves, but switching all the lights off isn't one of them."
But Graham Butland, leader of Braintree District Council, said: "I fully support the scheme. There were few objections during the 12-month consultation."
The scheme was initially trialled in Maldon and Uttlesford from 2007, and saw a 14 and 12.6 per cent drop in crime respectively during that period.
But critics question whether that can be directly linked to the lights going off.
Areas such as town centres, major road junctions and lighting installed on accident blackspots will be exempt from the blackout, but many residential streets will be left in gloom.
