Warwickshire woman calls for street lights to be kept on for women's safety

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A woman holding a Reclaim the Streets placard out of the passenger window drives past New Scotland Yard in London, the day after clashes between police and crowds who gathered on Clapham Common on Saturday night to remember Sarah Everard. The Metropolitan Police has faced intense criticism for its handling of the vigil, with officers accused of "grabbing and manhandling" women during clashes with the crowd. Picture date: Sunday March 14, 2021.
Women have been campaigning across the country for women's safety. Credit: PA

A woman from Warwickshire has started a petition for the street lights in the area to be turned back on overnight to help people feel safer in the dark.

It follows the Sarah Everand case, which has prompted mass discussions around sexual harassment and women's safety.

Chloe Fojtik started the petition last week and its already had over 2,500 signatures.

She's also been inundated with around 50 messages from women about their experiences of feeling unsafe.

Chloe Fojtik shares her experience of being followed by a van when she was 15-years-old.

Warwickshire County Council introduced a 'Part-night' street lighting policy in 2012/2013 as a way to be carbon efficient.

This means that 65% of street lights in the county switch on at dusk and off at midnight between Sunday to Thursday and at 1am on Friday and Saturday night.

The council says it has been monitoring the part-night street lighting policy and has founds that there is no evidence that the introduction of part-night lighting is associated with increases in crime.   

It added that it values the views of its residents and will be considering the petition carefully.

A similar petition for street lights in Clapham Common has had 25,000 signatures, and there are campaigns in Leeds, Glasgow, Southampton, Cardiff and many more cities too.

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