WORRIED residents have warned authorities that ‘atrocious’ lighting in Middlewich town centre is an ‘invitation to be mugged’.

Traders say that elderly people abandon Hightown and Wheelock Street at night as the street lamps are dim and they are worried about their safety.

Frances Cowper, of The Accord Clinic, in Hightown, said: “People have said to me it’s unnerving.

“You shouldn’t have to be fearful of walking down the street. It’s certainly hurting the confidence of older people.”

Problems began in late 2007 when Middlewich received a £100 grant to improve accessibility and lighting along Wheelock Street.

Residents had high hopes for the plush new ‘Manhattan’ lights which were installed to blend in with the Bull Ring area which had recently been redeveloped.

“However it now transpires that the street lights that were used were surplus stock from the Chester Railway Station development,” said Clr Simon McGrory, of Middlewich Town Council.

“Although they appear to conform to ‘required standards’, they are completely useless on Wheelock Street.

“The street lights used offer a very poor quality of light when compared to the previous ones.

“Two years on it is still proving to be a headache that no one will take responsibility for.”

A spokesman for Cheshire East Council confirmed that the lights had been replaced around two years ago.

She added: "We have made improvements to the lighting in Wheelock Street and Hightown and continue to monitor the effects."

But Mrs Cowper, who raised the issue at Middlewich Chamber of Trade, said: “Why don’t you ask them to stand outside at 7.30 at night and monitor them?

“They’re incredibly dark and it’s dangerous.”

John Powell, who used to run the former Wheelock Street business Gentlemen Outfitters, added: “It’s atrocious. It’s just an invitation for someone to come up and mug you.”

Now Clr McGrory has requested a site meeting with highways officers from Cheshire East and wants someone to admit that mistakes were made.

In a January 2008 report, a lighting engineer from the former Cheshire County Council claimed the lighting ‘lends a better ambience to the night-time scene, enhances colour rendering, face recognition and provides better security’.

But Clr McGrory said: “Many people avoid the street at night, the police acknowledge the reduced lighting and no police officer I have spoken to claims that the lights help ‘face recognition’.

“The Chamber of Trade which represents the majority of shopkeepers who own businesses on Wheelock Street have always complained that the lighting is making people avoid the street.

“In times of economic hardship the local authorities should be trying to help promote the uses of the high street shops.

“At the end of the day somebody, somewhere, has got it wrong.

“I just want somebody to be honest, stick their hand up and say: ‘Sorry, you the people of Middlewich are right, the lights are very poor, we got it wrong, now here’s what we can do to rectify the situation’.

“It is very basic stuff that we try to teach our children to do, own up, apologise, put it right, move on. Simple.”