A VISUALLY-impaired veteran was told ‘not to leave the house after dark’ if the new LED lights are too dim for him to be able to see.

Ron Jury, 64, of Great Hollands, Bracknell, suffers from extreme hemianopia, and is unable to see outside in the dark following the installation of the LED lighting around the town.

Bracknell Forest Council has installed the lighting in a bid to save £12m over the next 25 years through reduced energy consumption.

But Mr Jury now struggles to do the basic after-dark activities that he was previously fully able to do prior to the change of lighting.

His partner Donna contacted a charity to help liaise with the council and the housing association, Bracknell Forest Homes (BFH) to find a solution.

But the charity was reportedly told by BFH that the solution was Mr Jury should not go outside alone after dark.

The News has seen correspondence from the charity which purpotes to show this is what it was told by BFH.

Mr Jury said: “For them to tell me that I shouldn’t leave the house in the dark or to carry a torch is a sick thing to say. A torch is what a dog walker would use and a dog walker has got full eye sight and I do not.

“When it gets dark I might as well have no eyes at all and any lighting that is there needs to be illuminated more to make it so people like myself, who have impaired vision, can have the same basic opportunities as those who can see normally.”

Mr Jury explained the difficulties that have befallen him since the lights were put in place.

He added: “It has become increasingly hard for me to do the things I love, such as my evening guitar lessons as it is too hard for me to get home in the dark.

“If Donna, my partner is not available to take me to these places and I have to go alone then I will be putting myself in jeopardy.

“This problem doesn’t only apply to me. Some fully-sighted people have asked how I manage because they certainly can’t.”

The council is spending £7.3million on LED lighting around Bracknell with hopes of reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.

Linda Wells, Housing and Community Services Director, said: “We apologise to Mr Jury if any offence has been caused; this was certainly not our intention. We did not say that we advised Mr Jury not to go out after dark, but we did suggest carrying a torch as a temporary arrangement whilst the matter was being looked into.

“The street lighting is the responsibility of Bracknell Forest Council and I am pleased to see that we have had confirmation from them that the new LED lighting is going to be increased from 70% to 100% illumination near Mr Jury’s home, which should help.”

MR Jury will march at the Centopath in London for Remembrance Sunday.

He served with the army from September 1969 to March 1979, in Cyprus, Germany, and Northern Ireland.

Mr Jury said: “Remembrance means everything to me. I grew up in the Army and it’s what my earliest memories are of. I was even born in a military hospital in Scotland.”

“Remembrance, for me, is a time to think about the men in the trenches, on the front line paying the ultimate price.

These are people who are doing it for their mates next to them. That’s real love, isn’t it?”

“You tend to forget the bad times and focus on the good times, but even then I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. If I could do it over again, I’d do it exactly the same, just for a little bit longer!”

An earlier version of the story wrongly stated that Bracknell Forest Council had made the comment. We would like to make it clear that this was not the case and apologise for any inconvenience caused.