COUNCILLORS call for cameras to prevent further acts of vandalism across a town.

The Leader has previously reported the vandalism at the Connah’s Quay and Shotton war memorial, which had been cleaned free of charge by a company based in Kent.

However, at their monthly meeting, Connah’s Quay councillors asked Inspector Gareth Cust – of the North Flintshire policing team – whether CCTV could be placed to prevent it happening again.

Cllr Ron Hill said: "We have had the war memorial and Christmas tree incident. There must be cameras in Connah’s Quay not doing much on doing the job they were set up for, can we put cameras up there?

"It’s sacrilege what they have done."

Inspector Cust said he will meet with Flintshire County Council and see what could be done.

Members heard how Graffiti Busters cleaned the memorial free of charge using specialist equipment.

Cllr Ian Dunbar said: "They were as upset as the residents were when they came up so they said seeing as we have made a good job on the swastika we will clean the rest of the memorial. They cleaned that as well for free and they have done an amazing job. It's made such a difference.

"It's not only the memorial, we have had our Christmas Tree targeted and I think as soon as they started defacing our memorial, we need to put some safe guarding in place."

Cllr Ron Hill added: "There's cameras in Connah's Quay that have been shut down because they weren't required, maybe one of them could be removed."

Cllr Hill also expressed concern over a recent scam at Isabella Court where pensioners gave their banking details out to someone claiming to be someone else.

He said: "People gave their banking details and he was very persistent. My concerns is that people have given their details. Someone received a letter, but nothing has come out yet.

"They were really worried. Every week I say to them to put the phone down, but some don’t."

Inspector Cust told members that police were aware of caravans parked at the Halfway House pub and plans were in place in terms of enforcement.

Cllr Eric Faulkner also asked what stop and search powers North Wales Police had following the recent increase in knife crime across the UK.

The Inspector said: "There are no new powers for stop and search. You need to be sure you’re going to find something; the officers need reasonable suspicion.

"Some of that is misinterpretation. Officers are concerned and scared about complaints we hear in the media. Our stop and search figures in North Wales are massively down. Merseyside is effective.

"We are all aware of knife crime and it is a valuable tool. It’s a short-term resolution and legislation says we must believe there’s violence in the area."

Concerns were also raised about how many PCSOs are available to patrol the area, but members were told that information was considered ‘sensitive’ and could not be given.

Inspector Cust added: "In any one time you could have 12 working out of Deeside. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a Deeside team.

"In times of austerity we have to look at the bigger picture and not have PCSOs in certain areas. They are only one piece of the picture, we have proactive team and SNT Sergeants."