Somerset County Council-run Stanchester Leisure Centre is giving the 'green light' to energy-saving technology which could cut its electricity bills by thousands of pounds and help reduce its carbon footprint.

The sport and leisure centre in Stoke-sub-Hamdon, near Yeovil, is one of the county council's first centres to install a new state-of-the-art lighting system in its sports hall which could cut its energy costs by up to seventy five percent. It is hoped other centres will soon follow its example. The lights are being installed following funding secured by a grant from the Carbon Trust.

The so-called "intelligent" lights have special light and motion sensors. They can be activated when a player is using the sports hall or they can turn down automatically during daylight and cut down on energy wastage.

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Energy consultant Dr Bob Hardwick who has helped install the lighting system says the lights will be a great asset to the centre: "For every pound that is spent on lighting the sports hall, this new system will reduce that cost to just twenty five pence which is a huge saving at a time when fuel bills are on the increase. They will also help substantially reduce its carbon emissions."

The lights have the capacity to sense that when only one court is in play and the rest of the sports hall is quiet then the lights will turn off in the areas which are not being used. They also monitor output so if a tube blows, the other lights increase their brightness to compensate so the bulbs do not need to be replaced immediately.

They are also more convenient to use and can be operated by a hand held device to allow centre manager and former Badminton Wales international, Cath Vigar to adjust the sports hall lighting so that the light can be made brighter for tournaments: "These lights meet Badminton championship standards and will be so much more efficient and effective. Many Somerset county Badminton players train and play here and the lights will make a great difference to them."

(JM)