Is CCTV answer for problem passage? - Sleaford police call on council for help

Sleaford police have appealed to local councillors to install CCTV cameras to improve safety in a notorious town alleyway.
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Nag’s Head Passage is an important link between the main shopping street of Southgate with the bus and railway stations, as well as extending on to Castle Causeway.

Historically it has been a magnet for drugs, assaults and anti-social behaviour, particularly linked to late night revellers.

Residents have complained of people banging on windows, using doorsteps as a toilet and one elderly woman found men snorting drugs off her wheelie bin lid.

Nags Head Passage, Sleaford EMN-210127-164505001Nags Head Passage, Sleaford EMN-210127-164505001
Nags Head Passage, Sleaford EMN-210127-164505001

Three years ago a woman was assaulted late at night and a year ago two teenage girls were approached by two men who tried to lure them into the alleyway.

Town Councillors were asked at their latest meeting by the local policing team if they would install cameras at each end of the passage similar to those on Boston Road Recreation Ground, costing about £700 each.

But the council already contributes £5,000 a year to the town-wide CCTV system and NKDC has already said it had no funds available.

Coun Robert Oates, chairman of the Police Liaison Panel, added: “Police have received numerous reports of anti-social behaviour in Nags Head Passage and they have not been able to find a way of gathering evidence to identify the perpetrators.”

Some councillors felt it could be hard to justify without prompting a flood of similar demands.

However, Coun James Thomas sympathised adding that he does not feel safe walking down there after dark: “If we are going to do it we should bring in decent cameras that will bring peace of mind to residents.”

Coun Tarek Hayat said: “This needs to be a multi-agency approach. What is their policing plan? Cameras may be only part of the answer.”

Councillors agreed to seek more information about crime levels from police and residents also suggesting better lighting or even street wardens too.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has just announced an additional £20 million to the Safer Streets fund, open to Police and Crime Commissioners and local authorities to bid for local crime cutting schemes in residential areas, such as improved home security, more street lighting and CCTV.