A £45 million scheme has begun to replace all of Bradford district’s streetlights with LED lighting – and the works will last until 2024.

Approved two years ago, the Smart Street Lighting Project will see 56,500 lights upgraded.

And around 15,600 ageing lighting columns are being replaced.

Tong ward in Bradford is the first area of the district to get the new lights.

The work will be then be rolled out one ward at a time.

Other wards in South Bradford will follow, with Bowling and Barkerend after that, then Little Horton.

The work will move north and is due to end in the Bingley Rural ward, which includes Cullingworth and Denholme, in March 2024.

Bradford Council says the project will drastically reduce the authority’s energy bills, with the new lights proving more environmentally friendly.

A report says the work will save around £180 million over 50 years.

The scheme is being funded through a loan and borrowing.

Allun Preece, street lighting engineer at the council, said the bulbs used in the district’s current streetlights were no longer being manufactured – further necessitating the need for a change.

He said the contractor that is carrying out much of the work began a survey of the district’s lights last September.

So far over 30,000 lighting columns had been surveyed.

Of these, around 250 were deemed to have “serious structural conditions” and have been taken down. Most of these will be replaced as part of the project, but if there are multiple columns that have been removed in one area lights may be replaced sooner for safety reasons.

Mr Preece said the fact that existing bulbs were no longer available meant it currently took three times longer to replace faulty streetlights than it did just a few years ago.

Some councillors have said they are unhappy with the timetable for the works.

Mr Preece said the timetable had been drawn-up by the contractors, who had decided to start in the south of the district.

He added that the work to remove some columns was necessary because street lighting had been underfunded for years as a result of various reductions in Government funding.