Bungling workmen install new 22ft street light in middle of a tree – and then bosses blame the TREE for the blunder
BUNGLING workmen installed a new 22ft street light in the middle of a tree - and then bosses blamed the TREE for the blunder.
Neighbours were amazed to find "Britain's most pointless lampost" hidden inside the thickly-leaved tree blocking out all light in the civic centre of Newport, Gwent.
They could not understand why no-one thought to move it a few yards away, but they had a lightbulb realisation to move it a few yards away.
But even more bemusing was when Newport Council insisted the 60ft tree was at fault for being far too leafy - not the workmen who put it there.
Resident Karen Thomas, 42, said: "It is daft thing to spend money on.
"You think someone would have seen the light by now.”
Neighbour Fred Fee, 68, said: "Why the tree needs its own source of light is a mystery.
"I cannot imagine why anybody started doing it there - there's just is no thought gone into it.
LEAF IT OUT
“If it came on, there is no way there would be any light coming out of it. It’s bureaucracy at its best.”
The new street light is outside Agincourt House offices of accountants and support staff, and office workers were amazed at the council's blame game with the tree.
One worker said: "It is a joke really - which came first: The tree or the lampost?
"But a tree is a work of nature whereas a badly-place street light is a work of the local council."
Office property landlord Giles Nuttall is aware of the light issue but is out of the country "on leave."
Newport Council stood firm and insisted the lamppost is in the best place for it.
Most read in News
A spokesperson said: "This lamppost was replaced in the same position as the previous column.
"It is the most suitable location for the column as it has to light the nearby roundabout and it is where the energy supply is located.
"The tree has become overgrown and the owner is being asked to cut it back."
