Switching off the lights - to keep you safe

Council chiefs are to turn off the lights on a notorious footpath - in a bid to make it safer.

The decision to switch off street lamps in Lovers Walk in Highfield, Southampton, has been backed by police.



They hope people will no longer want to use the walkway, which is popular with students and dog walkers, because it will be completely dark.

The decision - doing the opposite of what people would expect to make a pathway safer - is to stop the spotlight being put on potential victims while would-be attackers are able to hide in the shadows, they claim.

It follows a similar trial across the road on a stretch of Southampton Common, which they say has been so successful in reducing crime that the lights are now being removed altogether.