IN the past week, people from all over the country have been asked to take advantage of clear starry nights to gaze up at the heavens.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England and the British Astronomical Association have been trying to map light pollution in the UK by setting people a simple test.

It is all part of the groups’ Campaign for Dark Skies.

People were asked to locate one of the most easily identifiable constellations, Orion, and count how many of its stars they could see.

The more stars that are visible, the lower the light pollution.

In 2006/7 nearly 2,000 people took part in Star Count Week.

Of those 54 per cent could see fewer than 10 of the constellation’s stars, indicating severe light pollution.

Only two per cent of people could see more than 30.

Bob Mizon, the campaign’s co-ordinator said: “The light from distant stars and galaxies takes hundreds, thousands, even millions of years to reach our eyes.

“What a tragedy to lose it on the last millisecond of its journey.”

A campaign survey earlier this year found eight out of 10 people had their view of the night sky affected by light pollution.

And the biggest cause is street lighting.

Bexley has nearly 19,500 street lights and is gradually reducing light spillage and carbon emissions.

Using the latest technology, it is now able to concentrate lighting down onto the roadway or footpath, reduce the intensity of the lighting at certain times; shorten the time the lighting is on and experiment with new kinds of lights and even use solar power for street bollards.

The result is a gradual reduction in light pollution as old street lights are gradually replaced, as well as a reduction in carbon emissions and energy use.

Bexley even recycles those components of its old street lights it cannot reuse.