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Engineering bungle lights up more than Lord’s
THERE are those who would say there is no better way to spend a lazy summer’s evening then snoozing under your newspaper, listening to the gentle thwack of leather against willow at Lord’s Cricket Ground .
An idyllic image, yes, but it was not so sedate at the home of English cricket on Monday night, as sleepy St John’s Wood was lit up like the Blackpool illuminations after teething problems struck during the trial of their new floodlights.
Residents say the use of the lights during Middlesex’s match against Somerset was a “disaster”, dazzling motorists and shining into the living rooms of the swanky high rise appartments that flank the stadium.
The match was only the second day/night match at the ground and people living in the nearby streets are praying engineers sort it out before the ground hosts the Twenty20 World Cup next year.
Andrew Mainz, chair of the St John’s Wood Society said: “It was an absolute disaster. We told Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) it would be and we have been proved right.
“The lights were shining into people’s living rooms. They’ve been working on it for two years and they still haven’t got it right.”
Within half an hour of the lights being switched on, Westminser Council received a number of complaints about the glare, in the latest episode of the long-running saga over floodlights at the landmark venue. An application for six temporary floodlights was thrown out by planning chiefs last month.
A spokesman for MCC said: “We are working hard to find the best long-term solution for the use of floodlights at Lord’s.
“Monday’s floodlit match between Middlesex and Somerset was a definite improvement on the experience of 2007.” |
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