STREET lights in part of a North Yorkshire town are set to be switched off overnight to cut energy bills.

North Yorkshire County Council has completed a consultation over the first phase of a lighting energy reduction programme for Harrogate, which would see lights in the Bilton and Nidd Gorge area turned off between midnight and 5am.

It would be the first area covered by a four-year rolling programme designed to cut the council’s energy bill for lights and signs, currently £1.7 million, by £400,000.