A rural road in northern China had over a thousand street lights installed along it in a strange plan by locals meant to coax more money from the government.

The clip, shot in Xi’an City in Shaanxi Province on March 28, shows a large number of street lights being placed only 30 to 50 metres apart from each other on both sides of a narrow three-kilometre-long road.

According to reports, the area used to be fields and the government has planned to remove and resettle the local households.

In order to get more compensation from the government, local villagers came up with the idea to install the large number of lights.

3月28日，西安陶家村，一处3公里长的路上，安装了1000多盏路灯。有村民称，该区域本是耕田，将要进行拆迁安置，安装路灯疑为多争取赔偿款。当地党政办一工作人员称，如果村民报有侥幸心理，拆迁部门将采取正常的法律途径解决问题。