Inspectors from English Heritage have joined Michael Fabricant in slamming the County Council for allowing ‘inappropriate’ street lighting to be erected in the middle of Abbots Bromley in Staffordshire.

In a letter to local protester David Austin, the Inspector of Ancient Monuments from English Heritage says: "I visited the village and saw for myself the lighting which has been installed. It seems to me wholly inappropriate that such lighting should be erected in the centre of the historic village within its conservation area and within the setting of the Ancient Monument, the Market or Butter Cross".

Michael Fabricant, who previously said the lighting would be "more suitable for illuminating the M6", agrees. "A constituent of mine has recently had to spend £1,200 on shutters to be fitted to his bedroom windows in order to get a good night’s sleep. It is clear to me that this job has been done on the cheap by contractors with totally inadequate supervision by Staffordshire County Council. Rather than a few tall lamp standards, more and shorter lamps should have been erected which would have given better road lighting and been in keeping with the conservation area.

"I am also very disturbed that contractors and the Council did not adequately consult residents before work began. Letters were sent out to residents who previously had lighting attached to their properties, but certainly not to the village as a whole as had previously been claimed. This could well be in breach of national planning regulations

"I am now calling on the County Council to get a grip on this issue and instruct the contractors to install more appropriate lighting without further delay."