A Rutland village has cut its energy bills by almost 80% by switching to more efficient lighting.

Market Overton's street lighting bill fell from about £80 in October 2010 to about £15 in November.

The savings are as a result of replacing the village's old sodium street lights with modern light emitting diode (LED) lamps.

The parish council also turns off some of the village lights between midnight and 0500 GMT to further reduce bills.

Parish councillor Andrew Stewart said: "We still have the lights on at important junctions and places you would need to see.

"Turning 80% of them off at midnight has really helped to save money and to cut our carbon footprint."

The parish council updated its 39 street lamps at a cost of £20,215 with about a quarter of the cost being met by a Rural Community Council grant.

Councillors said the village would no longer receive a quarterly £600 bill for maintenance and the lamps were guaranteed for 12 years and expected to last for 20 years.