ALMOST £14,000 of council cash is going to be spent converting lighting to LEDs.

Blackburn with Darwen Council bosses approved proposals to spend almost £13,778 completing a programme converting lighting at Blackburn Technology Management Centre in Challenge Way, Blackburn, to LEDs.

In 2017/18 the lighting in the core and general offices and reception were upgraded from a variety of fittings to LEDs at a cost of £27,000 and an expected annual saving of £6,500.

Now a request has been made by centre management for new corridor lighting with PIR and new car park and perimeter lighting.

The external security and car park lighting is as old as the building itself and units have started to fail.

The building team recommends future-proofing the lighting by replacing with LED units with a minimum life of 10 years, which they say will cut maintenance as well as energy costs.

The council meets a third of the electricity costs at BTMC and officials say they will benefit from these reductions.

The capital cost of the scheme would be met from the Carbon Management programme, which had an allocation of £159,202 at the start of 2018/19.

The proposals were approved by borough regeneration boss, Cllr Phil Riley, and resources chief, Cllr Andy Kay.