Bradford Council has pulled the plug on a multi-million pound deal to improve street lighting - because the resulting electricity bills would be too high.

The Government is making £60 million available through a 25-year hire-purchase deal so ageing lights can be replaced, however the cash would not cover the cost of powering the network once it is complete.

Council chiefs believe the present lighting system, 30 years old in some places, is cheaper to run than a 21st century one. A massive 70 per cent of all street lamps contain out of date 35 watt bulbs which need to be replaced with 70 watt bulbs which boost the amount of light cast.

Highways chiefs say improving all the district's 50,000 street lights to this modern standard would see a 40 per cent increase in energy consumption. They also fear increasing energy costs.

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, Bradford's Council's executive member for the environment, said: "There is concern about energy consumption and for that reason we would expect not only for prices to go up by the 40 per cent in demand, but also by the cost per unit. So I have asked the officers for a much more analysis on the cost."

Coun Hawkesworth also said the Department of Transport wanted the Council's full political support for the £60 million deal - something that can't be guaranteed in Bradford's hung Council.

But she said the decision doesn't rule out future offers.

"We need to put in street lamps that are futureproof - unfortunately solar power does not adequately contribute towards lighting needs at the moment - but in three to four years the situation may have improved."

Last week the authority's environment committee raised concerns over long-term costs of taking up the deal and the risk to staff contracts over the life of any 25-year deal.

The Council replaces about 250 street lights a year but the ruling Conservative executive this week proposed spending almost £2 million more on the replacement programme over the next three years.