STREET lights in residential areas of Chepstow will be switched off over­night from next Thursday (August 28).

Lights will be turned off between midnight and 5am as part of a drive by Monmouthshire County Council to save £180,000 on street lighting.

Lights will remain on near pedestrian crossings, in areas with traffic and other 'high risk' pedestrian areas which were determined in discussions with county councillors and community councils.

Lights are already turned off overnight in Monmouth and the policy will be extended to other parts of the county later in the summer.

Monmouthshire's cabinet member responsible for the county's street lighting, Cllr Bryan Jones, said: "Until now, we have been able to make significant savings through working more efficiently. "But the scale of cuts for this year was such that we can't avoid making savings that could have an impact on the communities we serve.

"I understand entirely that many people won't like the idea of streetlights being turned off.

"But we have limited the hours when this will happen and I'm confident that we have done what we can to minimise the impact."