GLASGOW has become the first UK local authority to switch to low-energy street lights following the launch of a new loan scheme by the Green Investment Bank.

The city plans to convert its 70,000 streetlights to LEDs in a bid to reduce costs, energy consumption and light pollution, as part of a scheme that the Green Investment Bank hopes will be adopted by other councils across the UK.

LED lights provide more illumination on the ground and less to the clouds. Close to 100% of the light goes downward, unlike conventional street lights which send a third of their glow into the night sky.

The new lights are expected to last for 40 years.