The Liberal Democrat and Green Party-led Oxfordshire County Council want to turn out street lights across the county at 11pm.
Please sign and share this petition to keep our streets safe and #KeepTheLightsOn.
www.change.org/p/keep-oxfordshire-s-streetlights-on-at-night/
— UPDATE June/July 2025 — Thanks to the almost 2,000 residents who signed our petition. This forced the Lib Dem County Council to launch a public consultation, which runs until Sunday 6 July. Make your views known here: https://letstalk.oxfordshire.gov.uk/pnl
The proposal made on the County Council’s website here has caused an outcry from residents across Oxfordshire, including many women who are already concerned about their safety late at night. It would also unfairly disadvantage shift workers who would have to travel to and from work in darkness.
Well-lit streets are a key component in people’s safety. According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, an approximate 40% of all vehicle collisions occur at night time. Further to this, residents in nearby Warwickshire and Northamptonshire, where streetlights have been off for some years in the early hours, have reported feeling less safe at night due to the change.
Leader of Oxfordshire County Council’s Labour Group, Liz Brighouse says, “The County Labour Group are opposed to turning lights off at 11pm in Oxfordshire. This will have a detrimental effect on women and girls, all those who work unsocial hours including those in the NHS, hospitality and retail, carers, cyclists and pedestrians. Many will feel scared to leave their homes when the lights are switched off. We cannot support a curfew on our streets and lanes across the County.”
Oxfordshire’s Labour MPs are both in agreement.
Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds says, “No changes should be made without input from local residents here in Oxfordshire. The County Council shouldn’t be rushing through changes that would disproportionately impact women, shift workers, and users of public transport without consulting them. Drivers and cyclists would also find it more difficult and more dangerous to get home safe at night. We should be doing more to make our streets safer, not less.”
Banbury MP Sean Woodcock adds, “Banbury is home to many businesses that operate at night not only in the town centre but on its outskirts in industrial estates. Then there are staff at the Horton Hospital. Why should their shift workers be made less safe because of penny pinching by Oxfordshire County Council? These half baked proposals need scrapping and more sensible suggestions put forward.”
Oxford City Councillor Lubna Arshad, Cabinet Member for a Safer Oxford, is clear that women’s safety must be prioritised. “I am deeply concerned by the County Council’s proposal to turn off street lights after 11pm. Darkened streets create an environment that fosters antisocial behaviour and crime, putting our most vulnerable residents at increased risk—this is unacceptable. Although the County Council conducted an Equality Impact Assessment, they have failed to address how this policy will impact women specifically, nor have they consulted Oxford City Council’s Safer Streets lead. This proposal disregards public safety concerns raised in the Violence Against Women and Girls agenda, ignoring both actual and perceived risks, particularly for women. Every resident in Oxfordshire has the right to feel safe in their community. I stand in unity with the Police, local communities, and the Labour Party in strong opposition to this divisive policy.”
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