HOUSING estates could be plunged into darkness with no street lighting as part of proposed £1.6 million cuts in the county council's environmental services budget.

Other proposals include scrapping gritting from all except A-class roads, dropping the parish lengthsman scheme for routine maintenance on rural roads, and withdrawing funding for Sunday and evening bus services.

The measures were put forward this week by Richard Lander, the county council's director of environmental services, but members of the county's environment advisory panel have said the cuts were unacceptable.

The proposals could mean thousands of street lights on minor roads and in housing estates would not be switched on, saving £530,000; scrapping the lengthsman scheme (£450,000); cutting winter gritting (£100,000); scrapping maintenance of cycleways (£75,000) and cutting subsidies to bus services on Sundays and evenings (£225,000).

At the environment advisory panel meeting yesterday, Coun Sandie Webb said: "We cannot accept switching off of lights on roads.

"The perception of crime is high. Switching off lights will create problems for so many people."

Coun Brian Atfield said: "I don't want to see us going into the dark ages.

"We have got to spend money on them otherwise we will be back to the horse and cart.

A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said cutting back on gritting, which could lead to more accidents, was to be regretted.

The spokesman said: "We appreciate that councils have tough decisions to make to keep within their ever tighter budgets.

"If they didn't cut back on gritting it would be something else which could create even greater problems."

Roger Harris, the chairman of Marlborough Road Safety Committee, said his main concern was that drivers would not realise that gritting was no longer taking place on certain roads in icy conditions.

"If drivers are not aware that gritting has been withdrawn then they will just hit a bend and lose control,"he said.