VIOLENT crime and vandalism in Wellington could be dramatically reduced if plans to move Taunton Deane's CCTV control room to Bridgwater are approved.

A consultation document has been drawn up to seek people's views on the relocation of the control room due to the change in pub and club opening hours.

CCTV cameras for both towns are currently monitored from 8am until 1am on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and from 8am to 3am on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the control centre in the Old Market Centre, in Taunton.

Now that pubs and clubs can potentially open 24 hours a day, Taunton Deane Council is keen to man the cameras 24 hours a day and one of the cheapest ways to do this would be to transfer the operation to the Bridgwater control room which already keeps a watchful eye on Bridgwater, North Petherton, Burnham, Yeovil, Cheddar, Highbridge and Brean.

John Lewis, parking and civil contingencies manager for Taunton Deane, said: "This is only a consultation document seeking people's views.

"It's a drive to increase our coverage from limited hours to 24/7 and a question of how best to achieve that either ourselves or going into partnership with the existing facility in Bridgwater. The latter option is cheaper."

The council first introduced CCTV in Coal Orchard, Old Market shopper and Kilkenny car parks in 1995 to try and stop crime and anti-social behaviour.

There are now 31 cameras in car parks across Taunton, 22 in the town centre and six in Wellington.

But, with more areas to cover and later opening times at entertainment venues, there are increasing demands on staff.

The report by Taunton Deane Council states that current coverage is not meeting the needs of police as footage does not always produce the visual evidence needed to back up criminal prosecutions.

Town and county councillor Andrew Govier and Sgt Richard Caburn, from Wellington police, are supporting the move in the hope it will cut crime and petty vandalism in the town.

Sgt Caburn said: "Where the service is based is fairly academic and providing it offers a recording service and better monitoring then that's better for us."

Wellington Town Council is also behind the move. Chairman Bob Bowrah said: "Economically, it makes sense that we do this. Sgt Caburn said it is impossible, with the level of manpower they have in the police to monitor the cameras and they don't even have the manpower to review video tape afterwards.

"It would provide 24-hour coverage which is what we need otherwise it's a waste of time sticking them up in the first place. We welcome the extra coverage and are hoping it will reduce crime and petty vandalism in the town."

Four options will be considered during the consultation. Leaving the service unchanged, employing specialist CCTV operators to man the Taunton control room during its current running time, employing specialist staff to run the Taunton base 24 hours a day, or entering into a partnership with another organisation to deliver a 24-hour service.

After consultations a report will be presented to the executive committee of Taunton Deane in April when the decision will be made.