Amey Highways has secured £15 million contract to replace thousands of street lights in Edinburgh with LED lamps.

Councillors on the Finance and Resources Committee have today, 24 January approved the £15.129m deal to replace around 54,000 street lights in the city.

The council said up to £54m will be generated in savings over 20 years, with the new technology also helping to reduce CO2 emissions and comply with Scottish Government energy efficiency legislation.

A dynamic street lighting monitoring and control system (CMS) will also be installed, providing real-time monitoring and reporting to identify and track faults.

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The announcement follows a 2014 pilot project to replace 7,000 obsolete lanterns with LED lights. The 'white light' technology lamps give off a clearer light and can last for more than 20 years compared to existing lights' current life span of two to four years.

Cllr Lesley Macinnes said: "When we rolled out these energy efficient lights as a pilot project in 2014, they were very well received by local residents, who told us they preferred the crisper, brighter light to the orangey glow of the old, inefficient street lights.

"Now that we've appointed a contractor, we can make the final preparations for rolling out energy efficient street lights to communities right across the Capital. Work is scheduled to start this summer, continuing on a ward-by-ward basis until the end of 2020."

(LM)