LANCASTER'S Ryelands Park is about to be illuminated nearly six months after smart new lights were put in place.

It was back in May that Lancaster City Council placed new lamp stands complete with energy-efficient bulbs around the perimeter of the park thanks to £50,000 worth of Euro-funding.

The work was welcomed by Ryelands Tenants' Association chair Pat Callaghan, who said: "This is something we have been hoping for for years."

But in what could almost be an energy-saving scheme gone mad, the lights have never been turned on.

Despite Lancaster City Council informing electricity supplier United Utilities of the work in February of this year, the job to connect the lights to the National Grid has only just begun.

And that means darkness around the park, which has been a hotspot for anti-social behaviour.

The money for the lamps, designed to make the park safer in the evenings, came from a Single Regeneration Budget grant and Lancashire County Council.

A spokesman for the city council says: "Unfortunately, the city cannot supply electricity to the new lights; this is the job of United Utilities.

"The city council is doing all it can to encourage United Utilities to connect the new lights as soon as possible. The council knows how important it is for people to feel safe when they are walking after dark."

At the time of the installation work starting, Baroness Ruth Henig, chair of the SRB said: "The aim is to improve lighting in the park making it more accessible and safer to use.

"Now the park should feel a more pleasant place to visit and pass through at all times of the day."

Now, at the end of October, work has finally begun to get power to the bulbs.

A spokesman for United Utilities told the Citizen that work is now underway.

He says: "We have many requests from local authorities for jobs like this.

"Unfortunately we have to arrange with various agencies if we need to dig up a road to carry out connection work and that can take time. But we are now on the job and it will be completed shortly."