Friday 7 October 2022 05:07 PM Victorian Society President Griff Rhys Jones fights to save Westminster's ... trends now
Actors Griff Rhys Jones and Simon Callow are among a host of respected figures who are backing a campaign to save Westminster's historic gas lamps from being replaced with LED alternatives.
MailOnline exclusively revealed in July last year that Westminster Council was in the process of converting the 305 lamps under its control with LED versions that it says are more eco-friendly.
This was part of a £6million upgrade to its lighting network and the council's stated need to address the 'climate emergency'.
The work to replace the lamps, some of which are listed, was paused at the start of this year to allow a consultation to take place.
Thirty lamps had already been replaced when the work was paused. A month-long engagement period is set to begin on October 20.
Campaigning group the London Gasketeers, which was co-founded by Westminster residents Luke Honey and Tim Bryars, is looking to persuade the council to drop their plans.
Comedian and actor Mr Rhys Jones, 68, who is the president of the Victorian Society and made his name on hit TV show Not the Nine O'Clock News, is backing the campaign to save the lamps.
Calling them an 'endangered species', he told MailOnline today: 'They are part of the mystery of London.'
Actor Simon Callow, 73, is also backing the Gasketeers. He told MailOnline: 'Wherever gas lights are to be found in London, they enhance the quality of life - and of course light.'
The Four Weddings and a Funeral star added that Westminster Council appear to want to 'destroy' the lamps.
Mr Honey told MailOnline that he believes the council's consultation is about how the new LED's will look, rather than the issue of whether the gas lamps should be replaced.
'We feel very strongly that the original gas lamps are authentic and part of the original fabric of London. They are good for tourists, they are part of history, they have a beautiful light,' he said.
MailOnline was also shown figures that suggested that the lamps under Westminster council's control only use the same amount of gas as 40 patio heaters, which are in widespread use across London in the outdoor seating areas of restaurants and pubs.
The lamps are also said to use just 0.63 per cent of Westminster Council's total annual carbon emissions of nearly 45,000 tonnes. This figure runs in contrast to officials' claim that the lamps need to be replaced as part of measures to tackle global warming.
Architectural historian Dan Cruickshank, who was involved in a successful campaign in the 1970s to prevent gas lamps in Covent Garden from being replaced as part of a proposed redevelopment of the area, is also among those who are demanding that the council keep the lamps.
And earlier this week, the GMB union's national secretary added his voice to the calls to save the lamps.
Actors Griff Rhys Jones and Simon Callow are among a host of respected figures who are backing a campaign to save Westminster's historic gas lamps from being replaced with LED alternatives
Comedian and actor Mr Rhys Jones, 68, who is the president of the Victorian Society and made his name on hit TV show Not the Nine O'Clock News, is backing the campaign to save the lamps. Calling them an 'endangered species', he told MailOnline today: 'They are part of the mystery of London'
The lamps controlled by the council light up some of London's most famous landmarks, such as Covent Garden and Trafalgar Square. They are powered by mains gas and maintained by a team of British Gas engineers.
They are among only 1,500 still left in the capital.
Gas lamps - which revolutionised life when they were first installed in London in the early 19th century – also feature in films including Mary Poppins and The Muppet Christmas Carol.
MailOnline previously revealed the careless way in which some of the lamps had been replaced in 2020.
Mr Rhys Jones, whose long TV and film career has seen him star in several hit productions, said today: 'I am really pleased that the Victorian Society is involved in this. These are a real part of London's history. They are an engendered species here.
'I am really pleased that the Victorian Society is involved in this. These are a real part of London's history. They are an engendered species here.
'I just love the business of walking through these streets which have such an amazing continuity.
'I am not far from Saffron Hill, where Fagin in Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist had his hideout. A little way from here you find Domby Street. That too is from Dickens.'
Fellow actor and writer Mr Callow said: 'Wherever gas lights are to be found in London, they enhance the quality of life - and, of course, light.
'This is notably so at Westminster Abbey, but perhaps most beautifully in the uniquely picturesque Cecil Court off St Martin's Lane, in the heart of the West End: as night falls and the lights gently establish themselves, enchantment follows, bathing the alley in a soft-focus amber glow.
'People are drawn there especially at dusk, just to witness the event. Now Westminster Council threatens to replace them all with the dreaded hard-edged, blue-tinted LED lights.
'It really does sometimes seem that whenever anything of particular and original charm exists, this Council, whether Labour or Tory-led, feels obliged, regardless of the absence of any scientific proof of untoward side-effects, to destroy it.
'In the name of what? Of the curse of our age: uniformity. We want more gaslights, not fewer.'
Antiques dealer Mr Honey, who founded the London Gasketeers with Mr Bryars, a book seller, last year, told MailOnline: 'We feel very strongly that the original gas lamps are
