Police call for CCTV cameras at Rock Street

POLICE in Thornbury have raised concerns that the town's Rock Street car park needs more CCTV coverage.

The issues was raised by during a meeting of the town's Community Engagement Forum in February during a presentation by South Gloucestershire Council's regeneration team on ongoing changes to the town centre.

The presentation did not include any firm details of the permanent designs for the High Street, which were expected to be announced at the end of February.

But the six-month project to revamp Rock Street car park, which started in November, was referenced in the discussion and neighbourhood constable PC Marc Maddox, who had made a report on crime in the area, highlighted deficiencies in CCTV in the area.

PC Maddox said the car park was often used by criminals visiting Thornbury to shoplift, and had also been the scene of drug dealing and muggings.

But he said the car park was not covered by CCTV, which meant officers missed out on the chance to identify which vehicles criminals were using.

PC Maddox said: "This would seem like an ideal opportunity to put in some quality CCTV and actually provide some protection.

"This is a multi-million pound project but it seems like big things are being missed.

"At the moment we rely on the St Mary Centre to record inside, but once people get into vehicles at Rock Street we've got nothing, and that's a real problem."

The Voice contacted South Gloucestershire Council to ask if CCTV could be installed at Rock Street to add to the three monitored cameras on the High Street.

A spokesperson said: "There are no current plans in place to expand the Community Safety CCTV in Thornbury, as the system there continues to prove effective providing adequate coverage of the night time economy.

"As part of the early scoping of the work to improve Rock Street car park, the possibility for installing CCTV cameras was considered.

"There are rightly strict rules around setting up CCTV, and any proposals would need to include evidence of higher crime rates, for example, which is not something currently highlighted by Avon & Somerset Police.

"Furthermore, in order to meet the regulatory threshold to set up new CCTV coverage you also need to demonstrate that other less invasive solutions to prevent crime have been tried and not succeeded. These could include increased police patrols and/or increased lighting, for example.

"If Avon & Somerset police do raise concerns about crime levels in this area, we will of course look to work with them and other stakeholders to take action and play our part in keeping local people and businesses safe. We have regular discussions with Police, the Police and Crime Commissioner and others where these matters can be raised."

Providing CCTV for the car park could cost between £50,000-£100,000, in addition to maintenance and monitoring, it is believed.