Street lights making sleep difficult- too bright

[Streetlightarebright]

Moved into new townhouse a few months ago. It’s in a quiet residential street. There is one streetlight in the whole street which is bang opposite my house. At night the street is lit up like a football stadium and despite having blackout blinds (custom made so fit the windows perfectly) it shines really brightly into my bedroom. Because it’s a townhouse and my bedroom is on the third floor it’s level with the streetlight so that doesn’t help.

I contacted the council and they replied saying they can put a shade on it but I’d have to pay £95 😲😲 their reason being the streetlight was changed over to these fancy LED lights in 2017 so I’m responsible for paying (we moved in about 6 months ago)

I’m quite annoyed that they expect me to pay. It’s disrupting my sleep and the light is excessively bright. Has anyone ever contacted their council & got them to put a shade in for free? I’m wondering if there are any good arguments I could use?

It really is disrupting my sleep even with the blackout blind ☹️

Could you get blackout linings on your curtains too?

It can't be a very good blackout blind if it doesn't actually blackout light - any light!

But the light was there before you bought the house, so why should the Council pay for something that was there before you?

You need black out curtains over the blinds.

I don’t think any blackout material can cope with the equivalent of football stadium lights on a level with my bedroom shining in pure LED lighting!

Have you tried an eye mask?

I moved from a house in the country with no such things as street lights to a house with a street light outside our bedroom window...now granted it’s not an LED one but I have learnt to get used to it and I don’t notice it any more

LED lights are the work of the devil.

I'd pay the £95

I’m really interested in if anyone has had this issue and had a result from the council, I need to know blackout lining comments as my blackout blinds are professionally made and custom fit with blackout lining already

Sorry I DONT need comments about blackout lining

There's a lot online about too-bright LED streetlights.

My local council replaced our streetlights with the new, white LED ones recently. There's a light outside my bedroom window and I had no problem with the gentle, orange glow before. Now it's like trying to sleep in that scene from Close Encounters of the Third Kind with the alien ship! I had thick curtains and venetian blinds up, but have had to replace them with proper blackout blinds and blackout lined curtains.

OP, if you don't get any joy on here try the House Buying & Selling forum on Money Saving Expert. It's full of house related issues

Maybe try contacting your local councillor (not the council offices) and explain the issue. They could be turned off at midnight. It’ll save them money, be good for wildlife and let you sleep.

Contact the environmental dept of the council. It’s light pollution and impacting your residency.

They will have to assess whether it actually is though.

£95 sounds pretty reasonable tbh, I'd just pay it and move on.

They replaced the 'yellow'one outside my bedroom with a bright led one. It is very very bright. Council basically said 'tough'. It goes off for a few hours at night - 1am to 4am. -it wakes me up when it goes off and when it comes on. An eye mask does help

I don't have blackout blinds/curtains etc as I prefer to wake up naturally and I don't if it's all closed in.

I harbour thoughts of sling shots!!

I have this and do something a bit grim. I stick tin foil to the window under the blinds. Works a treat.

I’ve heard of some streetlights going off for a few hours - a couple or work colleagues who live in the same area as me say their streetlights go off at midnight (yes I have bored everyone at work with this probably because they noticed how knackered I look due to no sleep!)

However “my streetlight” comes on at 5pm and stays on til 7 am

God I'd just pay it. Worth it if you can sleep, and the labour of having to fight it (with no guarantee of a result) is more expensive than the cash. To me, anyway.

Can you ask around and see if it bothers any of your neighbors as well? You may find someone willing to split the cost.

I know you don’t want to hear about blackout blinds but I promise you that properly made blackout curtains layered OVER properly made blackout blinds will absolutely solve your problem. Properly made and fitter blackout curtains will, however, cost a lot more than £95.

Annoying but I'd pay the £95. It's a fraction compared to new curtains and more disruption.

It would be cheaper to invest in a slingshot...

I have the same problem and am about to contact the council but they are shit at doing anything.

I would just pay it

I would pay £95 to be able to sleep well every night.