PLANS to light up all of Colchester’s Roman Walls have been abandoned.

In May, Colchester Council lit up Balkerne Gate, its first landmark, as a way of making the town more attractive at night.

Proposals were put in the pipeline for more to follow, with the walls at Priory Street car park now being worked on.

But it has emerged the council has ditched the proposals because it will cost too much money.

Darius Laws, Colchester councillor for Castle Ward (Con), has been pressing for the tourist attraction for years.

He said: “I am so disappointed.

“People have called me obsessive about this, and yes I am.

“I’m determined Colchester makes the most of its heritage.

“It’s embarrassing when you go to other historic towns and see what they are doing.

“I was in Southampton the other week and they have walls 1,000 years younger and they are all lit up.”

Originally, the council set aside £20,000 for the scheme.

But after making further enquiries, it was discovered it could cost between £50,000 and £250,000.

Mr Laws said: “I know the council is saying the money isn’t there.

“I know it is a big undertaking but we have got to have this on our agenda.”

Tim Young, councillor responsible for culture (Lab), said he hoped the scheme could continue in future on an staggered basis.

He said: “Balkerne Gate will absolutely continue to be lit up and the works in Priory Street are going ahead.

“But the rest of it we thought we could do quite reasonably we have just found to be really expensive.”

Mr Young admitted the council could have done more to discover how much the scheme could have costed.

He said: “You wouldn’t have thought lighting up the town would be so expensive.

“But it is the maintenance which costs too, not only the initial work.

“I daresay we will be criticised, by Darius Laws in particular.

“But we have to work to our priorities and do what we think best. £250,000 is a lot of money.

“Most people would agree there are more important matters for us to deal with.”

It has been proposed the £20,000, along with money from other projects which have not happened, be put towards other schemes.

If agreed, the pot will be divided up between tackling homelessness, creating events to draw in tourists and setting up another community grant funding scheme.