Should we switch time zones for lighter evenings?

With the clocks going back one hour on Sunday, people are discussing whether the British Isles should change time zones to allow for lighter evenings.

A former politician who spearheaded a referendum for Jersey to adopt Central European Time (CET) has said he stands by his argument it would boost "quality of life".

It was 18 years ago Jimmy Perchard triggered the vote on whether Jersey should change time zones to be aligned with the Continent.

In the island's first ever referendum, nearly 24,000 people voted, with 6,564 answering "yes", according to States Assembly papers.

Perchard, a former senator, said he regretted the outcome: "Adopting CET would have improved our quality of life," he said.

Nearly two decades later the debate rumbles on and proposals for the UK to shift to CET have been debated and raised in the UK Parliament.

Farmers, outdoor enthusiasts and businesses in south-west England and the Channel Islands have been giving their views on the benefits and drawbacks of changing time zones.

Central European Time is a subject that has sparked debate for decades, and in 2011 triggered the Daylight Savings Private Members' Bill.

British Summer Time (BST), also known as Daylight Saving Time (DST), comes to an end this weekend as the clocks go back an hour.

The change happens on Sunday 25 October at 02:00 BST.

However, if the British Isles were to adopt CET this weekend it would stop the clocks going back on this one occasion, synchronising the UK and the Channel Islands with much of Europe. Meanwhile, in the Spring, the clocks would go forward to BST plus one hour - or two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Advocates of the change cite the benefits of lighter evenings, including for sport and exercise, reducing energy consumption and making it safer.

The case for change has struggled partly due to opposition in Scotland where it would leave some areas without daylight until 10am in winter.

Critics say this would make the lives of outdoor workers harder and increase road accidents. Northern Scotland saw a net increase in the number of people killed or seriously injured during a trial from 1968 to 1971.

Retired farmer Perchard argues the Channel Islands, with their closer proximity to France, are "geographically suited" to CET.

"There is resistance in the north of the British Isles due to darker mornings but Jersey wouldn't suffer from that, children would still go to school in daylight," he said.

Meanwhile, he said, sports and social clubs and dog walkers could benefit from "lovely longer evenings", while people would "burn less fuel".

He said the 24-hour news cycle and round-the-clock commerce made the argument for change more viable.

But Jimmy's brother Robbie Perchard, who farms in St Martin, disagrees. "I'm happy with the status quo," he said.

He said the clock change was about safety: "Kids would have to go to school in the dark. For farmers it's different, we work in the dark whatever the season," he added.

Farmer Paul Houzé, president of the Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society, supports an extra hour of evening daylight in the winter, in line with CET.

Houzé said more could be made of the extra hour of winter sunlight but he doubted Jersey would change time zones.

Sally Everton, director of Visit Devon, said she could see the argument against CET when it came to jobs such as farming, while commuters travelling on "unlit country lanes" in the morning might be disadvantaged.

For tourism, though, she believed the pros of aligning with Europe outweighed the cons.

An extra hour of useable daylight in the colder months would make more space for activities like hiking and extend the tourism season. Lighter evenings could also boost hospitality, helping both "daytime and evening economies", she said.

Aligning with Europe could simplify travel schedules for European tourists and make Devon a "more attractive destination" for weekend-breakers, said Everton.

Meanwhile, an extra hour of winter daylight in the evening could benefit maritime businesses, said Paul Britton, harbour master of the Dart in Devon.

"Working at sea is dangerous enough at the best of times but trying to do things in darkness is more challenging - that extra hour of darkness in the evening suddenly takes away an extra hour of the day," he said.

"If it was purely a decision on harbour operations, I would say we should stick with British Summer Time through the winter."

He argues an extra evening hour would lead to "more economic activity", while currently the hour between 16:00 GMT and 17:00 was often "wasted time".

"The stuff you do early in the morning can often be the stuff done more easily in the darkness - getting ready, setting up operations can more easily be done in slight darkness," he said.

Elle Spicer runs Shehikes, a women's walking group in Devon.

She said the dark acted as "a curfew for women", forcing them to stay inside and stop walking in the evenings.

"A lot of women do struggle with a real fear of walking and being outside in the dark." she said.

Luke Caddel, co-founder of Shakeout Run Club in Falmouth, Cornwall, described putting the clocks back as "quite archaic".

He said extra winter evening daylight would widen the horizons for running locations in the winter months.

Neil Cole, who owns a sheep farm on Dartmoor disagrees.

"As farmers we're up early in the morning and I think having an extra daylight hour in the morning is more important than having it in the afternoon."

James Reddaway, who farms beef and sheep in Okehampton, described the end of Daylight Saving Time as "a hassle".

He said for those who preferred to work at the end of the day - when his farm does the milking - the darkness closes in too soon.

Dan Kingdom, a sheep and beef farmer in Tiverton, Devon, is a fourth generation farmer.

"My grandfather and nan never changed the clocks," he said.

"They'd just get up the same time - they used to say it was a faff. Thank God we've got iPhones now to do it for you."

Despite the family history of resistance, Kingdom said he embraced the status quo.

"It's lighter in the morning for farmers, that's a good thing. "I'd like it to stay the same as it is."

Former politician Peter Roffey tried and failed in 2008 to convince the States of Guernsey to change to CET but said he held out hope the change could happen.

"We're just off the coast of Normandy so why are we using a different time zone?"

"It would just be socially so much more pleasant to have light in the evening rather than the early morning."

He said it would also save energy used for heating and light.

"I would hope the whole of the UK would go for CET but I appreciate places like Scotland are very different to Guernsey. It's a live issue with the whole of Europe now," he adds.

The UK government said it was not considering a move to Central European Time.

A spokesperson said: "We believe the current daylight-saving arrangements represent the optimal use of the available daylight across the UK and we therefore have no plans to introduce any changes.

"There is insufficient evidence to support changing the current system of clock changes, including for travel, tourism and energy usage."

The BBC has also asked the States of Jersey and Guernsey for comment.

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