A VIOLENT street attack just weeks after a town’s CCTV was axed has prompted calls to bring back the cameras.
An unprovoked assault saw a 17-year-old man being punched in the face by a gang on the streets of Shotton.
The victim’s mother expressed her distress at the lack of CCTV to help catch her son’s assailants.
In December two cameras were turned off after Flintshire Council said it could no longer foot the bill.
The town council called on North Wales Police and Network Rail, which owns a camera at Shotton station, to come up with about £5,000, but to no avail.
Shotton Town Council chairman Gary Cooper told members about the attack at a meeting.
He said: “A lady has contacted me. Her son was assaulted in Shotton and she was quite upset at the fact that Shotton doesn’t have any CCTV cameras covering the town.
“We know this and we know the cost of funding and we simply can’t afford to fund it through the council.
“It’s the second incident of this nature where a youth has been assaulted.
“You can understand as a mother she was quite upset about the whole thing.”
Flintshire councillor for Shotton David Evans said: “I presume this lady has reported it to the police and I would like to know what the police response is to this as I get a lot of residents saying to me they don’t see any police on the streets.
“If the policing was better than the taxpayer wouldn’t have to pay for CCTV.”
Cllr Cooper said the woman had reported the incident to police who were trying to see if any images were captured by Network Rail’s camera.
In 2008, town councillors were told the annual costs were £3,227 for circuit rental and £1,350 for maintenance and it is believed prices have risen.
In September, 2012 when the contract was being reviewed, Cllr Cooper said: “I would be disappointed to see them go but we can’t put our council tax up.
“It’s not fair to ask the people of Shotton for any more money.”
A spokesman for North Wales Police said: “Police are aware of the incident and are investigating.
“Officers visited the local councils in Shotton and Connah’s Quay asking them to reconsider their decision not to continue funding CCTV.”