Anger over CCTV breakdown (From Free Press Series)

Anger over CCTV breakdown

MONMOUTH'S six Close Circuit Television cameras were out of action between Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

And an act of mindless vandalism has prompted local AM David Davies to call for an urgent explanation as to why they should have been shut down during this period.

"The whole reason for having security cameras is that they used 24 hours a day to prevent crime," said Mr Davies.

The situation was exposed when Wiliam Burns, the licensee of the Griffin Inn in Whitecross Street, bitterly complained that his new 2.8 BMW car had been vandalised during the six-day period.

Mr Burns said that he had parked his car at lunch-time on December 28 only to be told by local police just six hours later that his car had been damaged by somebody smashing one of the windows.

He said: "I immediately asked the police to obtain the tape from the people in monitoring the town, as the camera itself is situated directly opposite the pub and would have seen the incident taking place.

"But they later returned to the pub and told me that the cameras had not been working."

Mr Davies has written to the relevant authorities asking them for an explanation.

He added: "I wonder if the police have a record of any other crimes to other vehicles being vandalised during that period. I certainly had no idea that cameras would ever be turned off.

"It is absolute crazy that they should be off for six days, particularly as other towns' cameras were operational throughout the holiday period.

Derek Nash Monmouthshire county council's community safety officer confirmed that the cameras had not been working during the Christmas period.

"But the cameras had not been switched off and were still working as far as we knew. As soon as we were made aware of the problem an investigation was carried out and we discovered a fault in the system which has since been rectified."