No one in Sussex has been able to gaze up at the Milky Way since the Eighties and we are in the grip of seasonal depression. Why? Blame the streetlights, say campaigners who are calling for them all to be switched off after midnight. Simon Barrett reports.

When the clocks strike midnight, thousands of street lights automatically switch off across West Sussex.

Three years ago, West Sussex County Council went to all 161 parishes under its jurisdiction and let them choose whether or not to leave street lights on all night.

Supporters say reducing nighttime lighting is a major step towards hitting energy targets as well as making large financial savings for county councils.

Yet in neighbouring East Sussex, fewer than a dozen street lights are turned off at night.

Council officials fear turning lights off could increase crime and put lives at risk.

Now the South Downs Joint Committee (SDJC), the conservation group which manages the protected area, says the street light scheme should be extended further in West Sussex and rolled out into East Sussex.

The committee is calling for the re-establishment of a "baseline of tranquillity", which they believe is being destroyed by the blanket of lighting across the county.

They say light pollution means we may never see a natural dark sky over the Downs again.

Phil Belden, countryside services manager for the SDJC, said: "Put simply, the night sky is being ruined by artificial light. Nobody in Sussex has been able to see the Milky Way since the Eighties.

"As more villages and towns expand, the problem is only getting worse.

"As well as light pollution we must also be aware of climate change, use of energy and fossil fuels.

"Wildlife like bats and glow worms are affected and in people it even contributes to depression and seasonal affective disorder because there is no distinction between light and dark.

"There are 21,000 street lights in Brighton and Hove alone. It's a massive thing.

"I'm not naive enough to think you could switch off every light in Brighton - not around places like Churchill Square, for example. But in the suburbs why are street lights left blazing at 3am? It's bonkers."

West Sussex county councillor Tex Pemberton, cabinet member for highways, said: "I can see both sides of the argument but we have found giving people choice is the way forward.

"We went to all of our parishes and gave them options and the majority wanted the lights to switch off at midnight.

"It is an issue that is specific to certain areas. Some people told us they don't want the lights as they live in the countryside.

"For other areas, where crime is more of a concern, they want the lights on so they feel safer.

"It's not something I think you can impose on people. The issue is choice. We can control which lights switch off quite easily from a central system."

Coun Pemberton revealed the council is in talks over a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) to replace 80 per cent of the county's 64,000 street lights.

He said: "We hope to have the PFI arrangement secured by next year.

"The street lights will be the most energy-efficient in the country and will use white instead of orange glow to reduce light pollution."

Green campaigners say the council's scheme should be commended but called for it to be rolled out further across Sussex.

The SDJC commissioned volunteer Dan Oakley to look at the impact of constant light.

His report said the glass bowls and water droplets underneath the low-pressure sodium street lighting were reflecting light upwards, creating a permanent orange glow.

The report said: "This is particularly severe across the Downs, in comparison to other regions and protected areas.

"From the case studies looked at, the most cost-effective and popular solution would be switching lights off after midnight, as practised by West Sussex County Council in some rural areas.

"This could have a really positive effect on the Downs if more comprehensively applied in West Sussex and extended to neighbouring East Sussex."

The criticism was not confined to street lights. Campaigners believe controls should be placed on "unsympathetic" private outdoor lighting as well as floodlights in car parks, factories and ports.

The Campaign To Protect Rural England has shown that light pollution has increased by 15 per cent in West Sussex and by 21 per cent in East Sussex since 1993.

The only site in East Sussex where street lights are automatically switched off late at night is in Wivelsfield, near Haywards Heath.

The lights are outside a school so are not needed at night.

A site in Ringmer, near Lewes, had three accidents involving elderly pedestrians crossing the road at night. Council chiefs say that since street lighting has been installed there have been no accidents.

A spokesman for East Sussex County Council said: "Street lighting is put in place to reduce the fear and incidence of crime, create a feeling of community well being and improve road safety.

"Although we look at sites on a case by case basis, street lighting is provided to illuminate the carriageway and improve road safety. Turning off street lights at midnight would defeat this purpose."

In other parts of the country street lights are also fitted with timing devices to switch them off.

The scheme replaced the old system whereby lights were operated by a photoelectric cell which turns them on at dusk and off at dawn.

A spokeswoman for Friends of the Earth said: "As long as it is well targeted at rural areas then it seems a good idea.

"If it was wrongly used in builtup areas it may create fear and you would get people taking the car instead of walking.

"We would also urge policymakers to consider using more energy-efficient bulbs."