Published: May 1, 2008
County councillor calls for better CCTV monitoring in Highbridge

A Highbridge County Councillor has called for better monitoring of CCTV cameras following a night of vandalism at a town car park.

Councillor Rosemarie Parsons told Wednesday's town council meeting that said she had seen "a large group of youngsters" causing trouble at Bank Street car park (pictured) in the town last Friday.

"Bottles were taken out of the recycling bank and smashed onto the ground, while several other youngsters appeared to be trying to set fire to various items," she said.

"Given that we have a CCTV camera very close by and no police arrived to deal with the matter, I wonder whether these cameras are still in use and are being monitored? They need to be more actively used."

"Twelve vehicles parked near Highbridge Social Club were recently keyed right underneath one of the CCTV cameras, yet no-one was ever caught."

Burnham and Highbridge police team Sergeant Ian Kennett said his team are investigating both incidents, and assured her that CCTV cameras are still used.

He added: "We do regularly use CCTV to monitor trouble spots. They are monitored from a control centre in Bridgwater and can zoom in and out to watch people. They have mixed results in terms of success."

He added that the next police community meeting for Burnham and Highbridge, where the public can set police's priorities for our area, will be held on May 14th at The Princess Hall at 7pm.