They said the columns, on the A621 Baslow Road between Totley and a new bus turnaround at Gillfield Wood, were an "unacceptable intrusion" into sensitive areas such as Blacka Moor and Totley Moss.

Their pressure resulted in councillors deciding on Monday to have the street lights removed instead of being dimmed, as their officers had suggested.

A planning board is also asking for a report within three months on whether the speed limit should be increased on that section of road from 30mph to 40mph after complaints that the lower limit is actually making the road more dangerous.

And the question of whether the bus terminus can be returned to its original location, outside the Cross Scythes pub, will be examined.

A group called 'Space' – Sheffield and Peak Against City Encroachment – has been campaigning, with support from the Council for the Protection of Rural England, residents and wildlife groups and officers from the Peak District National Park, for the removal of the 'urban style' street lights, claiming that they are 'polluting'.

The street lights and a reduced speed limit, down from 60 mph, were introduced after council highways officers measured the sightline for bus drivers leaving the new terminus.

But critics challenged the council's measurements and conclusions.

Space member and Totley resident Sally Goldsmith said: "We agree that the limit needed to be reduced but 30 mph feels unnatural to drivers and is resulting in a more dangerous situation – tailgating and attempts to overtake as never before.

"A 40mph limit here is safe, well within Department for Transport criteria and more likely to be respected. We believe that this limit should be instituted right down from Owler Bar – where the limit is at present still 60mph – to the edge of Totley.

"This would also mean that the lighting can be removed. Many people – residents, walkers, visitors – who love this wonderful green city of ours with its proximity to the National Park feel that this lighting is a scar on a tranquil landscape.

"By day the huge light standards march through open countryside close to Totley Moss and Blacka Moor. By night they pollute the night skies. They represent creeping urbanisation at the edge of the Peak. They didn't even consult the Peak Park Authority as they should have done under the Environment Act. What next – urban style lighting all the way to Fox House?"

Ms Goldsmith, who was supported by Dore and Totley councillors Keith Hill and Colin Ross, said after the meeting: "We are not just NIMBYs. People come from a long way to appreciate the countryside. We believe they have made the right decision."


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