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Leeds street light installed in middle of front garden
A newly-installed street light certainly made sure that one Leeds house was brightly lit – not least because it was installed in the middle of a front garden.
Now at least the lamppost has been shifted to the side of Roslyn Richardson's Cookridge house, but her family is still struggling to adjust to the dazzle.
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The bank worker – who has filed an official complaint with Leeds City Council – wants the light completely removed as she says she was never consulted on its installation.
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She also says she was misled by council officers who said she would have to have a light close to her home.
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Since then she has learned that a next door neighbour refused to have a similar lamppost installed outside her house as part of the same council led street light replacement scheme on Haven Green.
Mrs Richardson, said: "I had come home after a funeral to find a street light in the middle of my garden.
"There was no warning or anything, it was just there. I called up to complain but was told that it had to be on my property.
"People passing by would just stop and stare. It was hideous. It was directly outside the living room window."
Previously there were three street lights evenly positioned between the 11 houses on Haven Green, according to Mrs Richardson.
One remains at the top of the road with its junction with Haven Chase, the middle one has been repositioned outside the Richardson's house, and the bottom one has never been replaced.
While the family's house is floodlit, a ginnel at the end of the road is in complete darkness after dark.
This particularly concerns Mrs Richardson, who told the YEP that her elder daughter Corinna was mugged there in January before the light was removed.
The 17-year-old also struggles more than her mum, dad David and 12-year-old sister Elizabeth, with the light pollution as she has a skin complaint that already keeps her awake.
A spokeswoman for Leeds City Council said: "We will be going out to Haven Green over the next few days to assess whether the new lighting is right for the street.
"We are concerned that Mrs Richardson says she didn't receive the leaflets that the contractors are obliged to hand deliver and we will be looking into this."
"The disputed light has been installed in the 'service margin' of the house, something which all houses have, and which utilities and other public service workers can legally enter.
"Homeowners often acquire the land and unknowingly treat it and tend it as their own."
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Weather for Leeds
Sunday 12 February 2012
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Temperature: 0 C to 5 C
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