Residents in parts of Salford have been bemused today at a number of street lights in the area that have seemed to develop ‘a mind of their own’.
Over the course of Monday night and Tuesday morning (January 12), several lamps have been seen flickering and turning off when they shouldn’t have been.
Margaret Martin, who shared a video of a number of flashing street lights in Swinton on Monday night, said she was bewildered by what could be causing the issue.
“I only noticed it about 6am this morning but I’ve heard other people say they saw it happening last night,” she told the Manchester Evening News.
“I find it quite amusing really but I think others might not be as amused.”
The resident, who lives near Moorside Park, shared the video on Facebook alongside the caption ‘Street lights have a mind of their own’.
It caused several other people across the city to add that they are experiencing the same issue.
People reported seeing flickering street lights as far as Boothstown, Pendlebury and Walkden.
“Is this happening all over Swinton... I thought I was going mad,” one person commented.
“That happened this morning on way to work, every time I walked past they shut off , I thought I had superpowers,” said a second.
“Same in Outwood Avenue right through the night. I thought I was finally losing it,” quipped a third.
Now, Salford City Council has explained that the issue is most likely to have been caused by a software problem in the GPS device that calculates sunrise and sunset times.
Councillor Derek Antrobus, Lead Member for Planning and Sustainable Development thanked the public for reporting it and said: “Most streetlights work with photocells which turn them on and off in response to daylight levels.
“Others - and these are the ones which appear to be affected - use GPS linked to sunrise and sunset times. We believe there is a fault with the remote system which will require the manufacturer to address.
“We are contacting them to report the fault which could affect other areas where councils have used this product.”
