A man who’s fighting County Hall’s overnight street light switch off says he’d rather go to court than pay his council tax bill in full.

Roger Jacobsen, of Maple Close, Sandford, has cancelled his council tax direct debit and will hold back £5 from monthly cheque payments to Purbeck District Council until civic officials address his concerns about turning off Sandford’s street lights.

He wants other people to join his protest, to force councillors to reconsider the plan which is being rolled out across the county.

The married 50-year-old said: “It is just a token amount but I want to show the council they cannot just keep doing whatever they please.

“I want to get some support from other people to help me lobby to get the lights switched back on. If other people are angry about this get in touch with me and let’s lobby the councillors.”

Mr Jacobsen says he was particularly angered by a lack of consultation and of any trial period for the initiative.

“My daughter works shifts and now she has to walk back home in the dark. It affects most shift workers,” he said. “When I phoned the council to complain they suggested I give my daughter a torch.

“I’ve also been told to turn on the extra outside lighting on my house if I’m worried – but why should I pay the extra for this?

“If I’m not getting 100 per cent of my services, I’m not going to pay 100 per cent of my bill. I’d love them to take me to court, because what they’ve done is wrong.”

Selected streets across the Dorset County Council area are being switched over to a timing system that will see street lights turned off between midnight and 5am.

The switch off is a part of a countywide scheme that has already been implemented in may Dorset communities and will eventually be extended to all remaining towns and parishes over the next year.