COUNCIL bosses have spoken out in defence of the county’s CCTV system after a councillor claimed it was heading for meltdown.

Cllr Klaus-Armstrong Braun said the entire system needed replacing with modern equipment after the warranty on the existing screen monitors ran out six years ago.

He said: “Everyone in the country who has these old screens will be after the diminishing resource of spare parts.

“Once they all go, we won’t be able to do anything with our screens at all and Flintshire would become blind.”

Cllr Armstrong Braun said he feared a “crime wave” could sweep the county if the existing monitors broke down and could not be repaired.

He said: “The police rely on the CCTV.

“The council has no choice but to upgrade because once these screens go kaput then we will have no CCTV.”

But Flintshire Council said there was no cause for alarm.

A council spokesman said: “The warranty on the existing screen monitors expired in 2004.

“Our current maintenance provider has notified Flintshire County Council that they can guarantee the availability of spare parts for the monitors until the end of March 2010, after which time they will endeavour to source parts as and when required.

“Each of the monitors within the screen wall can be controlled and operated individually, a single monitor breaking down does not result in the screen wall needing to be replaced.”