The amount of energy wasted through unnecessarily lit outdoor buildings is "bonkers" and needs to be dealt with, the Essex Climate Action Commission has said.

Light pollution – the presence of artificial light in the night environment – can be disruptive and harmful to both wildlife and humans, scientists have concluded.

In well-lit areas such as towns and cities, sky glow can be enough to entirely obscure our view of the stars. It is estimated that at least 55 per cent of the population of the UK are unable to see the Milky Way.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) says only 22 per cent of England has pristine night skies, considered as completely free of light pollution.

Essex is ranked 26th by the charity for the amount of light pollution it emits. The county with the least is Herefordshire and the most is West Yorkshire, at 41st.

Of the 34 areas of outstanding natural beauty, Dedham Vale near Colchester is ranked at 20.

When the two darkest categories are combined, almost half of England has what most people regard as dark skies. Yet light pollution continues to spread into the countryside from towns and cities, damaging the character of rural areas.

Almost half of the very darkest skies in England have no national protection.

The other half of our darkest skies are in National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, demonstrating the vital role these places play in protecting and enhancing our experience of the countryside.

Speaking at a meeting of the Essex Climate Action Commission, set up to advise the county council about tackling climate change, Councillor James Abbott said the huge energy waste that comes with leaving on outdoor lights such as those decorative fixtures impacts the county's CO2 emissions but also can fatally interfere with wildlife.

Commission member Councillor James Abbott (Green, Silver End and Cressing) said: "It is an increasing fashion for people to light their houses and their gardens and for businesses to do it as well.

"If you go round Essex in the small hours it is extraordinary the number of lights left on at night which are not just wasting energy and causing unnecessary carbon emissions, they can impact on sensitive and nocturnal wildlife – particularly in rural areas.

"I really think we should be mentioning that. It has become a fashion unfortunately to do this.

"It is a completely different issue to street lights which perform a specific function and which is a different issue."

Commission member Councillor Robert Mitchell (Cons, Braintree Eastern) said there needs to be a separate communications message around the damage that light pollution can do.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America has worked out that collisions with built structures are an important source of bird mortality.

Nocturnally migrating birds are attracted to and disoriented by artificial lighting, making light pollution an important factor in collision deaths.

He said: "I want to fully support Councillor Abbott's comment about the lighting of buildings – it is absolutely bonkers.

"In many areas they are left on outside. They are not doing anything except using carbon and they do not help the general biodiversity and all the things that go with it.

"It is almost a new double-headed communications piece that needs to get people to understand there is no benefit to nature in lighting the outskirts of your property."

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