Designer lamp posts in Ashford’s award-winning shared space scheme are to be scrapped.

The decision has been made byafter it was discovered that the bulbs for the £7,000-a-piece posts are no longer manufactured.

A KCC insider told the Kentish Express: “When everything was originally designed we wanted to incorporate an ecologically low footprint for our lamp posts.

“The decision was agreed, through a set of formal and informal working parties, that we would opt for energy efficient LED bulbs. By utilising this technology we would substantially lower the carbon footprint and not hit county hall coffers as hard.

“Unfortunately the company that produced the bulbs has since gone out of business and we are unable to source further bulbs. The posts will have to go and be replaced with the standard street furniture you would find in other parts of the borough.”

The Icelandic company, Opal Jirko Folei, suffered a crash after losing millions in the collapse of Icelandic banks, many of which used the bulbs in their offices.