SUNLIGHT is apparently not enough to illuminate a Reigate road where streetlights have been on 24 hours a day since Easter.
The streetlamps in Bell Street have been left on since they were installed and Surrey County Council has been accused of wasting taxpayers' precious pennies.
"It's just a waste of money," said Ben Newton of Key Mex Ltd in Bell Street. "Obviously we need them on when it's dark but during the day it's a complete waste."
Kayleigh Bowyer of Doves Decorating Shop added: "I've noticed them on before and it's just a total waste of taxpayers' money."
Members of the public raised the issue with the Mirror this week.
When the Mirror went to Bell Street the lights were still glowing orange at two in the afternoon.
Michelle Cumper, a Reigate resident who regularly walks along Bell Street, said: "I thought the lights were supposed to be energy efficient and that they'd go off in the day like the old ones did, but they haven't. It will be all right come winter when it gets darker earlier but now it's a complete waste of money."
Joy Ridley, a spokeswoman for Surrey County Council which oversees the maintenance of the streetlights, said the lampposts were part of a project to save the authority about £12 millon over 25 years and reduce carbon emissions.
Following our questioning, she said they would now be switched off during the day.
"The lights in question were installed as temporary replacements and inadvertently weren't connected to the monitoring system which turns them on and off and dims them," she said, adding that the lights had now been linked up to the system.
She also said that leaving the lights on had not cost the council any more money than if they had been switched off.
