TAXPAYERS' money is being 'burnt' at County Hall with virtually all of the lights being left on through the night.

Taunton resident Pauline Phillips said she is outraged that most of the lights in all the buildings are not being switched off when the Somerset County Council HQ is empty.

She said: "The lights have been blazing in County Hall into the night. You can see it all the way up The Crescent, Park Street and Shuttern.

"I've seen it at 6.30pm and also at 10pm when we've gone past on numerous occasions and there's no-one inside.

"It's a lot of taxpayers' money, particularly when they're saying they're hard up. It's disgraceful."

A council spokeswoman said the local authority is aware of the need to conserve electricity for financial and environmental reasons.

She added: "The council has carried out work in the B and C block buildings to reduce the amount of lighting. Staff may be working in the buildings until 7.30pm.

"However, lights are kept on in stairwells for safety reasons as some staff have 24/7 access to County Hall – for example the civil contingencies team. They need to be able to move around safely.

"The A block building is being refurbished and contractors are using site lights. We are asking the contractors to use a time-switch so that lights are not left on unnecessarily."