A TEST of Weymouth seafront’s new lights has received a mixed reaction.

The 28 LED strip lights, which are attached to lampposts along the seafront, were tested on Monday evening.

Work on the £265,000 light scheme began in September and was given an approximate completion date of Monday, November 25.

Cllr Jon Orrell - who is also a doctor at nearby Crescent Street - said: “I dashed out of surgery to see the lights.

“They are different from fairy lights but overall I liked the colours, the way they show the sweep of the bay and link to the Pavilion.”

Weymouth resident Reshad Nawoor said: “They look fantastic. As they’re programmable, the possibilities are really exciting. I like that they’re minimalist in design, as architectural impact is something you have to be careful about with a historic seafront.”

However not everyone was in favour. Councillor Christine James, who was one of the original members of the working group for the scheme, raised concerns about what she claimed were ‘hidden costs’.

Cllr James said: “I’m not convinced that when the sequence needs to be changed it will work as smoothly as we’ve been told.

“Last time I heard, there was an extra cost to [Weymouth Town Council] as we don’t have a trained operative to do this.

“The whole process has been so undemocratic, I asked for it to be recorded that I didn’t agree with this scheme.

“We were not in desperate need of a new light scheme, so we should have rejected this and spent more time looking into some thing more artistic, more pleasing and less naff.

“I’m sorry if people don’t agree.”

A spokesman for Dorset Council said: “The beach manager and senior building services engineer will be trained in the software used to programme the lighting, this will take a few hours.

“The [lighting] scenes are pre-programmed to change automatically. “If there was a requirement to change of the ribbon colours, this would be a quick manual job.”

Dorset Council stressed it was still testing the lights before the final switch-on.

The council spokesman said: “We will provide an update later this week on final completion and when residents can expect to see the lights on.”