11th hour rescue for CCTV system

From the Wiltshire Times, first published Friday 27th Jan 2006.

A FORMER Chippenham police officer has stepped in at the last minute to save the town's CCTV monitoring system.

Town councillors said they could only afford to pay for the upkeep and running of the cameras, not for them to be monitored.

On hearing the news, Brian Hinton, 56, the managing director of South and West Securities Ltd, decided something must be done.

He will use the control room as a Chippenham base for his company and will monitor the cameras. In return, he will not pay rent to the town council.

"I stepped out in Chippenham 37 years ago as a beat officer," he said.

"When I heard what was happening with the CCTV I felt quite moved.

"I thought there would be real problems if no one was manning the cameras so I wanted to help.

"We wanted a bespoke control room in Chippenham and rather than have a man just working for us we can do it for the town as well.

"You've got to give to gain in this world."

Mr Hinton runs his firm from Steeple Ashton, near Trowbridge and provides security for shops and businesses in Wiltshire and Somerset.

They run the Shopwatch Early Warning System, which was designed to pass information quickly to retailers and commercial outlets to combat shoplifting and forgery.

The system passes information received from the police or customers to other members of the scheme by text message.

Police estimate crime has dropped by 58 per cent in the town since the system was introduced to Chippenham in 1998 but said they could not provide the funding needed.

Council leader Andrew Noblet said: "After a lot of hard work a partner has turned up to look after the CCTV.

"The contract was signed on Wednesday afternoon and it means the cameras will be monitored for I am guessing about the same time as they are now.

"It is great news, absolutely fantastic."

Since it was introduced, CCTV in Chippenham has helped catch scores of criminals including three men who were jailed in November for a vicious brawl. Two thugs were also jailed last month for an attack and robbery on a soldier.

Det Con Dave Waugh from Chippenham CID said: "It is extremely useful in helping us track down offenders.

"If we have a description for someone who has shoplifted or there has been an assault we can ask the operators to look for that person, which can be invaluable."

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