THEY are used to shedding light on local crime but members of Hampshire Constabulary do not mind admitting they will be in the dark this Saturday.

Staff at the police headquarters in Winchester have pledged to turn out all non-essential lights and other electrical equipment on their high rise building for one hour to show their support for Earth Hour.

From 8pm, iconic buildings across Hampshire and the world will be joining in the black out, plunging landmark structures from Portsmouth's Spinnaker tower to The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco into darkness.

The big switch-off began last year in Sydney to raise awareness of climate change. Now it has become a global phenomenon as more and more cities including Bangkok, Chicago and Tel Aviv have agreed to turn off their lights.

The constabulary's energy management officer Sarah Thorpe said: "We are always happy to support initiatives such as Earth Hour. They tie in well with our commitment to reducing energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions."

Other Hampshire buildings gearing up for lights out include Winchester Cath-edral, WestQuay Shopping Centre, The Mayflower theatre and Southampton's Civic Centre and clock tower.

The Daily Echo's own head office in Southampton will also be extinguishing its illuminated sign for Earth Hour.

When 2.2 million residents and over 2,100 businesses in Sydney turned out the lights for just one hour last year it led to a ten per cent energy reduction across the city.

Those taking part this year, hope the gesture will have a similar impact while encouraging people to think about the small steps they can take to help save the planet.