A Honeybourne resident’s four-month battle to get a new lightbulb looks to finally have found its end.

Michael Beard, 69, has spent months trying to get a lightbulb fitted in a lamppost outside his home on Harvard Avenue.

Mr Beard says he has made more than 70 phone calls to Worcestershire County Council, Long Lartin Prison, housing associations and even his local MP.

He said: “I am still striving to get the streetlight repaired.

“All I have been doing is neighbourly gesture to help some of the elderly in the local vicinity as the thoroughfare is dangerous especially now the clocks have changed and with the dark nights.

“This has become a life’s quest, not to change the world, but to change a light bulb.”

Mid Worcestershire MP, Nigel Huddleston, said: “We remain engaged in this case and are in contact with Mr Beard regarding this situation. However, I’m afraid I am unable to comment further as we have a long-standing policy not to comment on casework.”

With the council and prison both denying responsibility for the streetlamp, it appears the company behind it has now been found.

A council spokesman said: “Rooftop Housing are responsible for the maintenance of this particular lamppost and others in the area.

“The county council is in contact with them and have requested that this is resolved as soon as possible.”

Mr Beard says he had thought this to be the case all along.

He said: “I tried Rooftop in the very beginning, and they categorically denied it was theirs even though they mow the grass it sits on.

“It seems I have been wasting a lot of my time and phone calls.”

Rooftop Housing have now accepted they received reports of the faulty lamppost back in August and have apologised for the lengthy delay.

A spokesman said: “The repair to this lamp was reported to us on 13 August, and our contractor made an initial assessment on the 20 August. Follow up works are booked for 5 November.

“This has fallen outside of our expected service standards, and we are sorry for that. We will be discussing this with our repairs contractor to ensure this issue is resolved as soon as possible.”

A cautiously optimistic Mr Beard said: “Let’s hope there is a ray of brightness lighting the pathway to safety on Friday evening.”