We will be waiting with great interest to see the next batch of crime figures for our district, this will give us an idea of what’s been happening since the lights went out after midnight.
In the meantime an observant reader has told us that the illumination for the Give Way sign in Laburnum Way, at the junction with Rawreth Lane, has been wired to the streetlights and goes off at midnight with the streetlight.
We have checked with County Highways today and this shouldn’t happen – the sign should stay illuminated. It is now reported with the reference 2312683.
If you know of any other illuminations for road signs that are going off at midnight, please let us know.
I’ve just been looking at the crime figures and have done a comparison for January against the previous year – since the big switch off, crime has fallen in Rayleigh – 113 reported crimes – this is the lowest it has been since April 2013 (112 reported crimes). What does need to be remembered though is that the Police Map showing crime does not indicate any time of day that the crime was committed and therefore will not be able to assertion with certainty that the switch off has had either a negative or positive effect on crime.