Sheffield insomniac has glaring problem with new streetlamp outside bedroom window night after night

A Sheffield insomniac says night after night of sleep for him and his wife is being ruined by a glaring new streetlamp outside his house.

David Warsop, aged 59, says it has been just over a year since the old sodium-vapor street lights were removed from outside his home on Derbyshire Lane and replaced with LED ones.

But David has some issues with the new lamps. While he can't fault how the new energy-efficient lamps give off a glaring white light compared to the old yellow sodium ones, he does take issue with how the new one is directly outside his bedroom window.

Now, after months of restless nights, David - who is now also receiving treatment from a sleep clinic - is calling on Sheffield City Council to do him the courtesy of installing a shade and help him and his wife get a night's rest for once.

David said: "I'm not just tired of it - I'm all over exhausted.

"We've tried black-out blinds, shutters and curtains, but the funny design of the window means it doesn't make a difference - plenty of light still gets in."

David, who has been living at the house on Derbyshire Lane for 30 years and has been signed off from work with exhaustion and depression, says he can't be sure the streetlamp is the only thing keeping him awake.

But after learning about 'sleep hygiene' following trips to the sleep clinic, he wants to try life with no phones after 6pm, no caffeine in the afternoon - and no glaring street furniture eight metres from his window.

He said: "I'm just tired all the time. I'm not saying it's just down to this - there could be lots of factors. But if the council could install a shade or do something to redirect the light away from my window I could at least see what a difference it makes. I don't think it would take much at all."

Following an enquiry from The Star, Sheffield City Council said they had visited the lamp on Derbyshire Lane after dark and measured the brightness from the light to the window.

The council, which has a policy to install a free-of-charge shade if the brightness exceeds 10 'lux', ruled the lamp's brightness from David's window measured 4.08. But the council said it would install a shield at cost to David.