Lamp column

Street Lighting and Signs - The Highways Unit

Kent County Council is responsible for Highway Lighting, Traffic Signals and most Highway signs. Below you will find some useful information and a link to Kent County Councils Highways page.

Please Note - Signs which remain the responsibility of Gravesham Borough Council include Street Name Plates and most signs which indicate Limited Parking Places or Parking Restrictions.

Reporting a Fault to KCC's Highway Service.

The lighting and signing equipment listed below is installed, inspected and maintained by KCC.

1. Illuminated street lights.
2. Illuminated traffic island beacons.
3. Illuminated Bollards.
4. Illuminated traffic signs.
5. Illuminated Zebra crossing beacons.
6. Non illuminated traffic signs.

If you would like to report a fault to the KCC Highway Service on any of the 6 items listed above, you can do so by using one of the following methods.

By sending KCC the information using the KCC Reporting Problems link below.

If you would rather contact them by phone please ring 08458 247 247.

If you would like to write to us giving details of the defect please write to

Environment, Highways and Waste
Kent County Council
Invicta House
County Hall
Maidstone
Kent ME14 1XQ

When you report a problem you need to give them the following information:

• Where is the faulty equipment? - Road name - outside which house number etc.
• What is the identification Number? - All illuminated street lights, island beacons, bollards, traffic signs and zebra crossing beacons have an identification number (see some of the photos on these pages). By having this number we can find the location of the column quickly by using our lighting and signs database.
• What type of lighting or signing unit is it? - Is it a lamp column, bollard or street name plate etc.
• What is the nature of the fault? - See below for more information about the type of faults which normally get reported.
• What are your contact details? - You don't have to give this information but it may help us if we need to contact you for more detail about the fault you have reported. Please give your name address and telephone number.

What the Highway Service Looks After in More Detail.

1 Illuminated Street Lights.

The Highway Service currently looks after 7857 illuminated street lights and 1303 illuminated signs and bollards located in all parts of Gravesham Borough.

In order to maintain the highway lighting system to a high and safe standard, all the lamp columns need to be checked on a regular basis. However, even with regular checking and maintenance, because we have so many columns to look after, faults can still develop which we know nothing about until the next inspection or if a member of the public reports them.

Types of Street Lighting Fault.

Out. This is the most common type of fault and is when the lamp is out and not working at any time. This is usually due to a problem with the bulb but can also be caused by other equipment failure either inside the lamp unit or the column itself.

Day Burning. This is when instead of being on a night when it should be, the lamp is alight during the daytime. The fault here is normally a faulty photo electric cell or timer.

Door Off. Normally due to vandalism, a missing lamp column door can be a danger to anyone who decides to look inside. This is a particular danger to young children who may not realise that the equipment inside the column has a live electrical supply. This type of fault should be reported as soon as possible.

Lantern Hanging. The lantern is a fairly heavy unit and contains the lamp itself and the photo electric cell etc. Again a hanging or dislodged lantern is normally the result of vandalism and should be reported as soon as possible.

Column Bent, Leaning or Loose in the Ground. Normally caused by some form of impact damage and should be reported quickly so that the column can be made safe.

Column Comes on at Odd Times and Not When it Should do. Like day burning lamps this is normally due to a timer or photo cell fault.

All illuminated street lights have identification numbers which should be quoted when reporting a fault.

2 Illuminated Traffic Island Beacons.

These beacons are small lamp columns which provide additional light for the traffic island. They usually have a white illuminated globe at the top of the column and sometimes the column has two white stripes. Generally the range of faults on traffic island beacons are the same as listed under lighting columns above. All beacons have identification numbers which should be quoted when reporting a fault.

3 Illuminated Bollards.

These are normally coloured yellow and white and are used to mark the corners and ends of traffic islands. The fault list is generally the same as for street lights. They are also often vandalised or can sometimes be knocked over by vehicles which have driven over the island. They all have identification numbers which should be quoted when reporting a fault.

4 Illuminated Traffic Signs.

Again the fault list for illuminated traffic signs is the same as for lighting columns. The signs are sometimes vandalised by spray painting or by turning the sign to face the wrong way. They all have identification numbers which should be quoted when reporting a fault.

5 Illuminated Zebra Crossing Beacons.

These are the beacons you see on each side of the road at a zebra crossing. The road surface is marked with black and white stripes and on each side of the road there are black and white stripped posts with an orange illuminated globe on top which flashes on and off. The faults list is similar to street lighting and again all beacons have an identification number which should be quoted when reporting a fault.

6 Non illuminated Traffic Signs.

As there is no lantern on a non illuminated traffic sign the normal fault is damage probably due to vandalism. Non illuminated signs do not have an identification number and therefore the location details are most important.

Once KCC have the fault report they will pass it to their contractor for action.

Minor repairs / replacements will normally be dealt with within 7 days of the report being received. If during the inspection the contractor finds that the problem is more complicated, he will report back to KCC with additional details and they will then instruct him accordingly. Major repairs / replacements will be dealt with within 28 days of the report being received.

If a lamp column or illuminated sign or bollard needs to be replaced, this will involve the power supply being disconnected and then reconnected again after the new equipment has been installed. The County Council cannot carry out electrical disconnections and reconnections, this has to be arranged with the local electricity supplier, EDF. This takes 30 working days (6 weeks) from the date the new equipment was installed.

Please note that if a fault report leads to a major repair and a power transfer by EDF, the illuminated equipment could be out of action for 14 weeks.