Street Lighting
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Our Aim:
To light the streets of Sheffield during the hours of darkness to reduce crime, allay the fear of crime, help community safety and improve road safety.
Facts and Figures
We Maintain:
- 69,000 Street Lights
- 5,000 Lit Signs
- 1,200 Lit Bollards and Beacons
What We Do
Every night two inspectors travel around the city, on fixed routes, noting where lights are out or damaged. Roads and footways will be visited every 15 working days in the summer and every 10 working days in the winter. The difference is because we need to see the lights when they are switched on and there are fewer hours of darkness in the summer.
We also have two night teams who work Monday - Friday repairing the faults.
Street Force looks after the column and the light but we do not supply the electricity. Repairs might involve Street Force or the electricity supplier or both.
NB We are not allowed to carry out repairs to equipment that belongs to the electricity supplier.
If one or two lights on the street are out
Once we know about the fault we will:
- Send our night crew within 1 or 2 days of the report to check if there is a live electricity supply to the column.
- If there is a supply, we will check the fuse, lamp or photo cell and replace if needed. 75-80% of faults are repaired at this stage.
- If there is no electricity supply or if the repair is not successful, we will put a yellow band around the column and arrange for our electricians to check the light in the day time. This will be done within 10 working days.
If three or more lights on the street are out
This is called a ‘section fault’ and is dealt with differently. Our electricians will check the reasons for the fault within 24 hours.
If the fault is a supply problem we will ask the electricity supplier to attend to it and they will make their initial response within 5 working days.
If the fault is on an underground cable then the repair could take up to 30 working days.
Lights that are on all day
If it is a single light, it is probably the photo cell that isn’t working properly. Because the light is working this would not be a priority but would be repaired as soon as possible.
If it is a full section of lights, it is probably an underground fault that the electricity supplier is trying to trace. They often need to leave the lights on all day so that they can trace the fault and repair it.
Although this may seem to be a waste of electricity, it is necessary in order to trace the fault. The City Council does not pay for the extra electricity used by lights that are on all day while faults are being cleared.
Improving Street Lighting
- Whenever we need to repair one of our old orange (low pressure sodium) lights it is replaced with a new high pressure sodium light, which give a better ‘golden’ colour. 72% of the lights in Sheffield have now been converted.
- Street lighting is upgraded whenever new road schemes are constructed.
- Street Lighting improvement schemes are carried out whenever funding is available.
Emergencies
We have electricians available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They will attend any emergency (e.g. if a column has been knocked over), within 2 hours, if there is a danger to life.
How You Can Help
Please report any problems to our helpline on (0114) 273 4567, or you can Contact Street Force by mini-com (for hard of hearing people), fax, letter, e-mail or online.
Which ever way you choose to contact us please, if possible, tell us:
Which ever way you choose to contact us please, if possible, tell us:
- The street light column number (you can find this on the side of the column).
- Where the street light is e.g. outside No 15 Blank Street.
Street Lighting Standards and Performance
The street lighting standards that we aim to achieve are shown on the Street Force Customer Charter web page. Our performances against these standards are shown on the Street Force ‘Performance Matters’ web page.
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