REDDITCH library is set to become one of the first municipal buildings in the town to launch a new eco-friendly lighting system.

The system, which is due to be installed in the library offices in September, will use movement sensors to detect when the rooms are occupied and switch lights off automatically when they have been empty for more than 25 minutes.

Worcestershire County Council said it was delighted with the new scheme.

A council spokesman said: "We're already using the system at County Hall in Worcester and it works really well. If one person is in the building working late, the light in their office will be on and their escape route out of the building will also be lit."

Rather than having to remove the current lighting system and reinstall an entirely new one, the sensors work with the existing lighting, meaning less cost will be involved and fewer raw materials wasted.

New buildings will automatically be fitted with eco-friendly lighting as part of the current government guidelines on eco-practice and, if the new modifications prove succesful, the movement sensors could be extended into all suitable county-owned buildings throughout Redditch.