Work on installing CCTV in park starts
WORK is underway to install two CCTV cameras in a park near Hinckley town centre in a bid to prevent crime in the area.
Ground works have begun to set up the two devices in Queen’s Park, as part of an £108,000 investment in tackling crime and improving security in the town.
The funding will include over £60,000 towards eight new CCTV cameras, while the other funds will pay for free security upgrades for almost 300 households and for more radios for town centre security staff.
The money will also be spent on removing graffiti.
Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council posted a picture of the ground works on Facebook, with several people commenting to say they welcomed the new cameras.
Christine Pennington said: “Good to hear. Hopefully the youngsters who snapped branches off young trees will think twice now.”
Kay Holloway was also pleased to hear about the new security kit being installed.
She said: “Great news at last. Perhaps some peeps might start to use the litter bins. And the vandalism and drug using will stop.”
Two CCTV cameras were installed in Hollycroft Park in August, on a pole near the bandstand, including a fixed camera facing the front of the bandstand and another camera at the top, which can rotate 360 degrees.
In June, vandals trashed the bandstand, smearing paint on newly painted walls and scrawling graffiti on the building’s doors.
The attackers also damaged the downpipes of the prominent art deco style building, which had just had a £6,500 refurbishment.
In a previous incident in August, police were called to the park after a report of a large group of young people fighting there.
Officers attended and the group dispersed and left the area, with a second report coming in 40 minutes later about a group of teenagers fighting in the area of Factory Road.
They detained four youths, aged between 12 and 15, and said that they showed “a complete lack of consideration towards the general public and complete disregard for their own safety”.
Police also attended a report of a large group of teenagers fighting in Clarendon Park, a few days later.
The £108,000 investment is part of £432,000 secured from the Home Office’s Safer Streets Fund, to be spent across Leicestershire, to reduce crime.