CRIME-busting CCTV is needed in Felixstowe now - and tonight we demand that action is taken immediately to sort it out.The resort is one of the few big towns in Suffolk without closed-circuit cameras - yet it has the money ready and waiting to be spent on a system.
CRIME-busting CCTV is needed in Felixstowe now - and tonight we demand that action is taken immediately to sort it out.
The resort is one of the few big towns in Suffolk without closed-circuit cameras - yet it has the money ready and waiting to be spent on a system.
The need for CCTV was highlighted just before Christmas when armed raiders got away with £26,000 in a robbery at the town's Woolworths store.
Had cameras been in place around the town centre the gang might have been caught on film, or been seen visiting the area before the raid to make their preparations.
Tonight the Evening Star launches a new campaign backing the resort's drive for CCTV - and urging everyone to work together to get the system in place as soon as possible.
The town has been awarded £36,000 by government for a four-camera system but the plans have hit a stumbling block.
It has been hoped to site the transmitter on top of the Palace cinema and bingo hall but owner Patrick Duffy is now demanding more than £4,000 rent a year.
The task group is now seeking other sites in the town centre for the equipment, which needs to be placed on a high building.
Doreen Savage, chairman of the CCTV task group, welcomed The Evening Star's support for the cameras.
She said the group would be meeting as soon as possible to hear an update on progress.
“It has been frustrating because we have the money and we just want to get on and get the system in place,” she said.
“I think the cameras will be a great deterrent for all sorts of crime, particularly anti-social behaviour, vandalism and burglaries.
“Not having cameras is making Felixstowe a sort touch - had we had CCTV in place the robbery at Woolworths may not have happened or those responsible may have been caught on camera somewhere before or after the incident.”
What do you think of having CCTV in Felixstowe? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk
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