A light in Farthingloe Road has been kept on for a month, according to one councillor who has been pestering KCC to fix the problem.

District councillor Peter Wallace, who looks after Maxton, Elms Vale and Priory wards, said he reported the faulty light in the street on September 15 but is still waiting for one of KCC’s repairmen to fix it.

The light has been on “day and night” for a month.

He said: “I don’t know why someone hasn’t been out to fix it. It’s the third time this year this light has been broken and it’s on 24 hours a day.

“It’s hard to explain to people why the council has turned street lights off at night to save money, yet they leave this one on all day and night.”

But a KCC spokesman has said it was fixed, and the problem must have reoccurred. He said: “We did attend to the reported street light on October 10, but it appears that the fault has returned.

“We will go back again, and while we are there we will attend to the other two lights that are on during the day.”

But Cllr Wallace has noticed that this broken street light is one of five continually on in the ward, with two broken in Church Road, one in Monins Road and another in Folkestone Road.

Cllr Wallace has reported all of the lights to KCC, though he said none had been fixed.

'There are five broken lights in my ward' - Cllr Peter Wallace

“There are five broken lights in my ward and I’ve seen plenty more broken in River, Whitfield and Sandwich,” he added.

“I wonder if KCC have also cut the budget for repair teams, as I have so many on all day across the district.”

KCC’s spokesman said: “On average, 98% of our street lights are operational at any time.

“We aim to visit the 2% that are not working within 10 working days and try to fix the problem immediately.

“If repairs cannot be carried out on the first visit, further parts are ordered and the repair is planned as soon as possible, normally within 28 days.

“We inspect our street lights on a regular basis. We recognise faults may occur at any time and therefore encourage the public to tell us when they see faulty street lights.

“We make this very easy by providing an online tool on our website at www.kent.gov.uk/highways. This is free to use and, because the information is entered online, can be processed quickly. In an emergency, we ask people to call on 03000 41 81 81.”