http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/66/section/270Highways Act 1980An Act to consolidate the Highways Acts 1959 to 1971 and related enactments, with amendments to give effect to recommendations of the Law Commission.1981-03-01texttext/xmlenStatute Law Database2026-03-18Expert Participation2026-03-13 Part XII Acquisition, Vesting and Transfer of Land <Abbreviation Expansion="et cetera" xml:lang="la">etc.</Abbreviation> Transfer of property and liabilities on change of status of highway etc. Transfer of lighting systems.2701In this section—“footway lighting system” means a system of lighting, provided for a highway, which satisfies the following conditions, namely, that either—ano lamp is mounted more than 13 feet above ground level, orbno lamp is mounted more than 20 feet above ground level and there is at least one interval of more than 50 yards between adjacent lamps in the system.or such other conditions as may be prescribed by order of the Minister in substitution for the above-mentioned conditions;“road lighting system” means a lighting system that is not a footway lighting system;and references in this section, as respects a transfer from a lighting authority to a highway authority, to “the agreed date” are references to such date as may be determined by agreement between the two authorities or, in default of such agreement, as the Minister may direct.2Subsections (3) to (6) below have effect where a road lighting system is at any time provided by a lighting authority for the purposes of a highway for which they are not the highway authority, and this includes cases where a footway lighting system maintained by a lighting authority other than the highway authority becomes a road lighting system—ain consequence of any order made by the Minister under subsection (1) above (as respects the conditions referred to in the definition of “footway lighting system”), orbin consequence of any alterations effected by the lighting authority.3On the agreed date there are transferred to the highway authority—aall lamps, lamp-posts and other apparatus which, immediately before the agreed date, were vested in the lighting authority as part of the road lighting system; andbexcept as provided by subsection (4) below, all other property or rights which, immediately before the agreed date, were vested in the lighting authority for the purposes of that system, and all liabilities incurred by that authority for those purposes and not discharged before that date;and any property or rights so transferred vest, by virtue of this section, in the highway authority.4There is not transferred to a highway authority by virtue of this section any right or liability of a lighting authority in respect of work done, services rendered, goods (including gas and electricity) supplied or money due for payment before the agreed date, and there is not transferred to the Minister by virtue of this section any liability of a lighting authority in respect of loans or loan charges.5A highway authority and a lighting authority, or any two or more highway authorities, may make agreements with respect to the transfer of property, rights and liabilities under this section, including agreements—afor defining the property, rights and liabilities thereby transferred to the highway authority or any of those authorities, andbfor the transfer or retention of property, rights or liabilities held or incurred for the purposes of two or more road lighting systems, or partly for the purposes of such a lighting system and partly for other purposes.6Any dispute between the authorities concerned as to the property, rights or liabilities transferred by this section shall be determined—awhere the Minister is one of those authorities, by arbitration;bin any other case, by the Minister.7If in the case of a road or part of a road in which a footway lighting system is maintained by a lighting authority other than a highway authority the highway authority propose to provide a road lighting system (either as a separate system or by means of alterations of the footway lighting system), they may give notice to that effect to the lighting authority; and where such notice is given subsections (2) to (6) above apply in relation to the footway lighting system as if for the references in subsections (3) and (4) to the agreed date there were substituted references to such date as may be specified for the purpose in the notice.Pt. XII (ss. 238–271) applied by SI 1986/564, art. 4(2)(a)