MARLBOROUGH could decide to go it alone and install its own system of security cameras to monitor streets in and around the town centre following a meeting of town councillors and traders.

Coun Marian Hannaford is leading the investigation into whether Marlborough people want a closed circuit television (CCTV) system and if the town can afford to install and run one.

Surveys looking at whether the residents and traders want CCTV in the town will take place in the New Year.

Members of the town council, including the Mayor, Coun David Watson, and members of the chamber of commerce were clearly impressed by statistics given by Mike Tupman, manager of the CCTV system at Wootton Bassett, when he was invited to a meeting held at the Castle and Ball and organised by the chamber.

Mr Tupman, who is a special policeman and frequently seen on patrol in Marlborough, co-ordinates the Wootton Bassett security camera system which operates from rooms over the town council offices.

Marlborough has decided to investigate installing its own CCTV after talks over a shared system for the five major Kennet communities ground to a halt almost a year ago.

Last December the Kennet Community Safety Partnership -- a group set up representing all the towns and villages in Kenmet with the task of investigating ways of reducing crime among other things -- decided for reasons which have never been made clear to the public, not to apply for a Government grant.

The deadline for applying for a share of the £150 million on offer from the Government was December 22, and which other Wiltshire towns including Calne, Swindon and Trowbridge were able to meet, but the KCSP, after paying £4,000 for a feasibility study by independent consultants, decided not to submit a bid.

Mr Tupman told the meeting of traders and councillors that the biggest spin-off for Wootton Bassett was a significant drop in crime and vandalism in the town centre. He said the traditional window breaking sprees in the town centre on New Year's Eve were a thing of the past.

Jackie Dicks, who owns the Tudor Tea Rooms, which has its own security cameras, said she doubted if the businesses in the town which had already gone to the expense of installing their own systems would either want or be able to afford to contribute to a town system.

Coun Hannaford said the likely capital set-up costs cost of a ten-camera system in Marlborough would be in the region of £180,000, with running costs estimated at £33,000 a year.

She suggested that funds could be raised by charging Kennet for providing security cameras in its car parks, or parking charges could be introduced at the sides of the High Street with the revenue going towards CCTV. Late night clubs and pubs could be asked to contribute.

Yesterday Coun Hannaford told the Gazette that the subject of CCTV, and hopefully the results of last year's feasibility study, were due to be raised next Wednesday at the KCSP meeting.

Coun Hannaford said she believed the meeting of councillors and traders had demonstrated support for a stand-alone CCTV system in Marlborough.

In the absence of any other source of funding for the running costs, Coun Hannaford said it would mean each home would have to pay an average £11.50 extra council tax, which she was sure most families would be happy about.