A SCHOOLBOY who patrols his community to report broken street lights had a lamppost dedicated to him by the council.

Ben Paramore, 12, spends every night walking around his town with his dad to spot lights that aren't working properly.

He has spent months reporting them to the council via an online portal so engineers can fix the issues.

And in recognition of his efforts, Cornwall Council has now held a ceremony to dedicate a lamppost to him.

Ben, who has autism, now has a plaque with his name on that is attached to the post that was unveiled at an event attended by family and friends.

He was also presented with his very own safety helmet, high-viz jacket and head torch by SSE, the company responsible for maintaining the lights.

His mum Jane, of Saltash, Cornwall, said: “It was such an amazing thing to happen for Ben - the smile on his face said it all.

"It’s was also lovely to see the community who came out to support us.

''It was such a special moment and we would like to say a massive thank you to everyone that made this possible.

“He loves street lights and is fascinated by them and he wants to know everything about them, like are they heavy, why do they move in the wind etc.

"We told him a week ago that this was going to happen, to help him process and to deal with it and he is excited in his own little way.”

The lamp post dedication has been a long time in the making and is the results of several months of emails and phone calls.

It had been hoped that this presentation would have happened at the end of March, but plans were put on hold due to the UK wide lockdown.

Jane initially spoke with the disabled children’s team at Together for Families who set about getting a lamp post dedicated to Ben.

At the presentation were friends, neighbours, council staff and engineers from SSE.

Disabled Children Family Worker, Wendy Venning, said: “It has been a complete honour and pleasure to organise this for Ben and I would like to thank everyone who has given her their support to make this happen.

"Ben was really happy and excited to tell her that now owns his very own lamp post.”