CCTV cameras are reactivated after 12-month blackout due to image quality faults. Use them to catch criminals, urge opposition leaders

Published: 12 March 2010
By JAMIE WELHAM

ONE-HUNDRED CCTV “spy” cameras that have been switched back on after a 12-month blackout should be targeted at catching criminals, City Hall opposition leaders say.

Parking chiefs announced that the devices, which are principally used to issue fines to motorists in Bayswater, Marylebone and the West End, were going “live” this week.

It follows a council bungle that saw the whole £15million network of cameras shut down because they did not meet Department for Transport guidelines on image quality. The error cost finance bosses almost £500,000, who then had to pay a further £330,000 to upgrade software.

Labour leader Paul Dimoldenberg said the cameras should be moved to areas with higher crime rates such as Paddington, Pimlico and Church Street to bulk up security rather than using them to trap unsuspecting motorists.

“Using the CCTV cameras to trap motorists is a waste of this sophisticated technology,” said Cllr Dimoldenberg. “The cameras should be used to detect crime and bring criminals to justice, as the top priority. That is the best use of the cameras, with fining motorists for parking transgressions coming a lower priority. 

“The council has spent £15million installing the cameras and they should be used for improving community safety and tackling anti-social behaviour rather than just taking money from motorists.”

The cameras were reactivated on Monday, with the first parking fines issued shortly after. Officials say the cameras accounted for nearly 20 per cent of parking fines in the borough before the switch-off. 

In a bid to soften the blow to motorists, who have long objected to CCTV being used for parking fines, the council has published an online map revealing the location of each camera. They will be signposted with “Street Enforcement Camera” notices in the West End, Belgravia, Trafalgar Square and Oxford Street.

Cllr Danny Chalkley, Westminster Council’s cabinet member for city management, said: “We have sought a fairer approach to parking enforcement and are committed to getting it right first time round. CCTV is an effective tool in ensuring this happens.

“Cameras in Westminster are used in areas where there are known problems with traffic and anti-social be­haviour and we hope that by highlighting the locations of these cameras motorists will think twice before driving dangerously or inconsiderately.”