A SECOND CCTV system is to be installed in Middlewich amid fears that vandalism and drug dealing in broad daylight is ‘growing and growing’.

Members of the public spoke out about a rise in anti-social behaviour during Middlewich Town Council’s open forum on Monday night.

It comes as the town council prepares to buy a second CCTV camera to cover Fountain Fields following the park’s £300,000 refurbishment last year.

One resident told councillors: “I’ve been approached by a number of people as I walk my dogs by the canal with regards to anti-social behaviour and drugs.

“There is one lady in particular that is very distressed by it, because people are openly dealing behind her house.”

Another resident added: “Anti-social behaviour is growing and growing – car damage, damage to property, people trying to get into people’s properties, it is on the increase.”

The fears came as no surprise to members of Middlewich Town Council, who unanimously voted to release funds to purchase a second CCTV camera.

Middlewich Town Council is liaising with Cheshire East Council over where it can install the camera and how much the system will cost, and a CEC officer conducted a site visit on Monday.

A sum of £12,000 has been ringfenced for community safety in the Middlewich Town Council budget for 2019-20, and the cost for the system – including wiring up lampposts to attach the camera to – will come from that pot of money.

Cllr Carol Bulman, Labour, said: “This awful business of drug dealing in daylight – it’s before all our eyes, we can see it. We can see it near the leisure centre, down White Horse alley, we all know that it is going on.

Northwich Guardian:

“And it is terribly difficult to pin down and get action – but that doesn’t mean that we won’t try. We will be trying.

“The first priority is to protect Fountain Fields. It’s a fantastic park, it’s well-used, it is looking beautiful, but there has already been some crime there and we want to make sure that that doesn’t happen – we want it protected.

“We can be one step ahead, we don’t need fancy algorithms – we know our town and we know where the trouble spots are. If we had a moveable camera it would help.”

Middlewich already has CCTV installed outside Jack’s supermarket, and town councillors admitted that while the system has been a success in the area, it could push anti-social behaviour into other parts of town.

Meanwhile, Middlewich Town Council is also set to work with PCSOs in a multi-agency action group in an effort to tackle anti-social behaviour – with councillors Carol Bulman, Vicky Perez, Dave Latham and Chris Jones.

Cllr Dave Latham, independent, stressed the need for residents to keep the police informed as well.

“It is most important that you report these items to the police because that is how these pinch points are formulated,” he said.

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“The PCSOs over the last six months have got a plan, and do know where these people are moving from and to, so it’s not a case that there is no plan.

“Police have a plan, they know who these people are, that’s the frustrating part. Without the public phoning the police saying ‘I’ve seen him again down St Anne’s Road, or by the canal’, without them getting that information, they can’t bring that net in any closer.

“So it is paramount – it really is paramount – that the people of Middlewich act. Don’t be scared of acting, phone the police, give them what information you have got.”