Report a street light fault

Before you start

Warning

Damaged or faulty electrical equipment can cause serious injury or death -do not touch it or interfere with it.

If you think the problem is a serious threat to life or safety, phone Department for Infrastructure (DfI) Roads on: 0300 200 7899. 

Upgrading or installing street lights

If you feel that street lighting needs to be upgraded or installed in your road, you should write to the street lighting engineer for your area using the details on the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) Roads page.

Privacy notice

You can find out how any personal information you send to DfI Roads when using this 'report a fault' service will be handled by viewing its privacy notice.

Additional information

Tracking the progress of a fault

You are able to check the progress of a fault you have reported at this link:

• Track progress of a street light fault

Reporting by email or phone

You can also report a street light fault by email to DfI Roads or by phone (for emergencies) to 0300 200 7899.

• Contacting 08 and 03 numbers

Emergencies include:

• a street light hanging off
• bare cables showing
• street light column door off
• the lighting pole has been knocked down

The following details will help identify the location of the fault:

• town
• road or street name
• nearest house number
• column number (on yellow and black label) - if known
• details of the fault - for example ‘not working at night’, ‘lit during daylight’, ‘column door missing’, or ‘traffic accident damage’

Street lighting in urban areas

Generally, all roads, car parks and footpaths adopted (owned) by DfI in urban areas are lit. Exceptions to this include:

• rear paths which only give local access
• sections of adopted urban roads where there is no continuous housing development

DfI is not responsible for lighting away from the public road network - for example, security lighting to council parks and council car parks.

LED lighting is the preferred choice for new and replacement street lighting schemes for adopted roads and footpaths.

New housing developments

The street lights in new housing developments are installed by the building developer during construction until the road is adopted by DfI. Until then the developer is responsible for:

• the payment of electricity for the street lights
• street lighting faults
• repair of vandalism-damaged columns

Rural roads

Rural roads are not usually lit unless there is a community of at least 10 houses along a 200-metre stretch, or a history of night-time road collisions.

How to ask for better lighting

If you feel that street lighting needs to be upgraded or installed in your road, you should write to the street lighting engineer for your area. Use the contact details at the links below.

• Department for Infrastructure Roads - Northern Division
• Department for Infrastructure Roads - Southern Division
• Department for Infrastructure Roads - Eastern Division
• Department for Infrastructure Roads - Western Division