CCTV funding plea

AN appeal is being made to fund a CCTV camera in Exeter Road in a bid to crackdown on vandalism.

AN appeal is being made to fund a CCTV camera in Exeter Road in a bid to crackdown on vandalism.

The call has come for extra surveillance cameras by the traders after scores of businesses were recently hit by vandals scratching tags into windows and defacing shop signs.

Exmouth community safety officer Gerry Moore said he was preparing a bid for capital funding that would pay for an extra camera.

The recent spate of vandalism, which will cost the town �67,000 in damages, has angered many Exeter Road traders who, 18 months ago, pledged cash to pay for closed circuit TV equipment.

Some believed the equipment had already been purchased and was sitting in a box waiting to be installed.

It was thought the authorities would 'match fund' the traders' cash.

But tensions rose this week when it was rumoured the CCTV equipment designated for Exeter Road was being collared for a more central town centre spot to monitor a nightclub.

One Exeter Road trader, who had pledged �25 to pay for a camera, but wished to remain anonymous, said: "We were told it would go outside Dells, but I have heard the CCTV camera is sitting in someone's cupboard."

Gerry Moore, for the Community Safety Partnership, said he was preparing a bid for capital funding which would pay for the equipment.

He said the bid's success was reliant on the economic climate.

Mr Moore said the difficulty was not just funding the equipment, but also paying for it to be installed and maintained.

Mr Moore said: "We haven't forgotten about the CCTV camera for Exeter Road, but we don't know how successful the bid is going to be.