12:30pm Friday 8th December 2006
By Staff reporter
HUNDREDS of residents have signed a petition for round the clock CCTV coverage to combat drink and disorder along Nantwich Road.
The Guardian reported earlier this year how borough councillor Tom Dunlop was furious to discover that the high-tech cameras were not being monitored for hours at a time during the most volatile periods of the night.
Now, after two months of further complaints from pub landlords and their customers, Cllr Dunlop insists that nothing has been done to help catch the yobs on camera.
He is now calling for the town's cameras to be staffed round the clock in time for Christmas when thousands of revellers will be partying in the area's bars and pubs.
He explained: "I want to see a zero tolerance approach to drink related disorder.
"Extra CCTV staffing throughout the night will make people feel safer over the busy Christmas period.
"Criminals and drunken yobs captured on CCTV can be caught in the act.
"If a member of the public is in distress or if someone is fighting in the street we can use the radio link to call the police for emergency assistance.
"But if there is an incident after staff finish there is no-one who can respond to it until the next shift. I'd like the control room to be manned 24-hours day seven days a week.
"It is diabolical to leave Nantwich Road without a CCTV operator throughout the night."
In September the council's community safety team warned that violent crime in the borough had risen by 23% since 2003 and highlighted the problem of young male drinking culture' on Nantwich Road.
Cllr Dunlop, who has so far collected more than 300 signatures of support, added: "I have been advised that a few more hours extra staffing to monitor the busiest times of the night will only cost around £80 per week.
"Yet the borough council still refuses to make the changes to improve public safety, despite the warnings of their own community safety department, who recommend that urgent action should be taken to combat the violent effects of late night drinking along Nantwich Road."
A long-term strategy to tackle disorder Nantwich Road was unveiled by Cheshire Police in September, which will involve alley-gating, the use of mobile CCTV cameras and making the area a no drinking zone'.
l What's the solution to the drink-related problems on Nantwich Road? Let us know your views by writing to Crewe Guardian, 42 High St, Crewe, CW2 7BN, or email mhilditch@guardiangrp.co.uk
© Copyright 2001-2010 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.creweguardian.co.uk