Dozens of street lights in the Roe Valley

Sinn Fein councillor Dermot Nicholl, pictured at Hawthorn Park, Greysteel, hopes the lights will soon be repaired.

Areas affected by the outages include parts of Limavady, Dungiven and Greysteel.

The Department of Infrastructure say, in total, there are currently 65 lights in need of repair.

Sinn Fein councillor Dermot Nicholl, who lives in Greysteel, said he counted 31 street lights not working in various parts of Greysteel on Wednesday night.

“Residents have been contacting me about street lights that are out in the estates in Greysteel. I suppose, there have been elements of anti-social behaviour in the area recently and, coming into the darker evenings now, people are a bit concerned about that. The street lights being out has brought the issue to the fore,” said Colr. Nicholl.

In a bid to assess the situation for himself, Colr. Nicholl revealed he visited the areas which people reported as being impacted.

“To my astonishment, there were 31 lights out in Gortgare, Clooney Road, Brisland Road, Craigbrack Road and Tullyverry. I’ve reported the faults to the Department of Infrastructure so, hopefully, this can be resolved as soon as possible,” said Colr. Nicholl.

He added: “People don’t like to be left in the dark. There is the fear that it attracts anti-social behaviour and, it’s natural that people feel safer when the place is lit up, especially when some of the areas affected are where elderly residents live.”

A Department for Infrastructure spokesperson said they plan to have most of the lights that are out repaired within five working days.

“There are currently 26 lights recorded on the street lighting database for repair in the Greysteel area.

“The total number of lights recorded as being in need of repair in the Limavady area is currently 65,” said a spokesperson for the Department of Infrastructure.

“This takes in both Dungiven and Greysteel. All of the lights currently reported as being out will be repaired within the next five working days.”

The Department spokesperson urged anyone who spots a fault to report it on the NI Direct website under ‘Street lighting and report a fault’. Callers can also report street lighting faults by telephone to 0300 200 7899.”