COUNCILLORS have asked for consideration to be given to increasing the hours of street lighting around Dorchester South train station.

Members of Dorchester Town Council’s planning and environment committee are writing to Dorset County Council after concerns were raised about rail users walking to the station in the darkness to catch early trains in the area around Monmouth Road.

The committee says it was concerned that the timings of the lights meant that at both the beginning and end of British Summer Time there was a particular issue, and it wants the council to consider reprogramming the lights.

Committee chairman Susie Hosford said: “We were concerned that the way the lights are set at either end of British Summer Time means the whole approach to the station is in complete darkness and we are thinking of people going to catch early trains. We have written to the council to ask them to look at it and consider reprogramming the lights.”

Cllr Hosford said that other issue the committee considered was the increased number of people using the area late at night as the Brewery Square development boosts Dorchester’s night-time economy.

She said: “We also felt with the increase in people using Brewery Square late in the evenings it was an issue with that area in complete darkness.”

Part-night street lighting was first introduced by DCC in 2011 as the authority looked to save around £150,000. The lights were switched off between midnight and early morning in most residential areas, although some areas where there were particular concerns about traffic problems or levels of crime were excluded.

Information considered by the committee stated that each light is fitted with a sensor and was programmed to switch off at midnight and turn back on at 5.30am if necessary.

The earliest train from Dorchester South to London Waterloo departs at 6.02am on weekdays and 5.47am on Saturdays. The first train in the Weymouth direction departs at 6.58am.

Cllr Hosford said she was unsure whether it was possible to reprogramme the lights but she was hoping to have a response from the county council at the committee’s next meeting.