Villages around Wells face a bill of £20,000 to turn off street lights after midnight instead of keeping them on all night, a local councillor has discovered.

Cllr Ian Humpreys, of St Cuthbert (Out) Parish Council, said Somerset Highways' funding formula means there's no saving in turning them off later.

"The cost of fitting a timer to each street light is around £70," he said.

"As we have nearly 300 such lights this amounts to £20,000 for the parish as a whole."

St Cuthbert (Out) Council covers all the villages next to Wells and is exploring an after-midnight switch off among other environmental improvements and measures to fight climate change.

Fighting light pollution is a passion for Cllr Humphreys, an astronomer and dark skies campaigner.

"To someone who enjoys the night sky the current situation is like a loudspeaker on every lamp post blasting harsh music all night," he said.

"No one would accept this yet we are expected to tolerate lighting that is just as intrusive."

A spokesperson for Somerset County Council confirmed that cost savings for late night switch-offs are limited and the priority is to upgrade street lights to LED systems, which save energy and money.

"We will still consider proposals for part-night street lighting, as long as there is strong local support," the spokesperson said.

"We are happy to work with St Cuthbert (Out) Parish Council to consider the pros and cons."

Cllr Humphreys responded that Somerset has missed the point on light pollution.

"LEDs are actually worse than the sodium lights they are replacing," he said.

The council aims to start consulting villagers on the late night switch-off this month.

St Cuthbert (Out) Parish Council serves 11 villages around Wells. They are South, West and East Horrington, Dinder, Dulcote, Coxley, Polsham, Haybridge, Wookey Hole, Easton and Green Ore, south west of the B3151.