HOPES to dim down street lighting keeping householders awake on a residential street in Peeblesshire have been dashed.

A resident from the new housing development at Caerlee Mill, in Innerleithen, brought a complaint of light pollution to the town's community council last month.

Maria Findlay said that four households could not access their front bedrooms due to the strong street lighting and that blackout blinds didn’t resolve the problem.

Environmental health officers from Scottish Borders Council measured the light pollution and reported that it was within acceptable measures.

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Updating the town’s community council, Tweeddale councillor Shona Haslam said: “They measured on the street and inside peoples’ houses. I had a meeting with Whitburn (the developers), and they are working very closely with the residents to try and do as much mitigation as possible.

“The lights are dimmed to 70 per cent between the hours of midnight and 6am, although the residents feel that that isn’t making much difference.”

Mrs Haslam said she asked residents who still feel the lighting adversely impacts them to get in touch.

“So far, only one extra person is saying that it is an issue for them, so we are continuing to work with Whitburn on that. However, it’s quite difficult given that environmental health said it’s within acceptable levels,” she said.

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Chairman Marshall Douglas said he has heard from the residents, and they are still “far from happy”.

He added: “The regulations are as they are, and people are working within that, but let’s hope that common sense and people working together can resolve this.”

After speaking to other residents in the development, Mrs Haslam said there were no complaints.

She added: “None of them said the lighting was a bother. But, it’s one of those issues where some people are very sensitive, and some people aren’t, so it’s finding a happy ground, where everyone is happy, which is never possible, but we’ll do our best.”