ILKLEY looks likely to remain the only town in the Bradford district that does not have on-street CCTV.

Bradford Council’s decision-making executive committee is being recommended to reject a petition calling for the installation of CCTV camera coverage in the town centre.

A report is asking councillors to pass a resolution that states: “That whilst all crime is cause for concern, Executive regretfully cannot allocate any additional funding to the operation of the CCTV system to provide coverage for Ilkley town centre.”

The report compares crime statistics in Ilkley and Shipley, which show that on average Ilkley has 71 crimes per month compared to 275 in Shipley, which does have CCTV cameras monitored by Bradford Council’s CCTV control room.

The estimated capital cost of providing 10 high-definition CCTV cameras in Ilkley is £100,000 and the report states there would be increased revenue implications to cover running and maintenance costs.

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth (Ind, Ilkley) who backed the petition said: “I never did believe that Bradford Council would pick up the tabs for a full CCTV package for the town. I did however, particularly with the night-time economy change, expect them to come part way to help us.

“I did expect they would agree to the use of the control room. It would not have been a big cost.”

She added: “The report is sadly silent on current events in the town as to disorder.”

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Ilkley’s Early Intervention and Prevention officer PC Sam Hollings, who visited City Hall in March to hand in the petition, said the report did not address the scale of some of the incidents West Yorkshire Police had dealt with in the town over the summer so far.

“I understand the council’s position entirely if there is no money available.

“But that being the case I would expect an assessed scalable project with perhaps small, medium and large options.

“Some assessment of what funding is or may be available might also be valuable,” said PC Hollings.

“If the executive make a decision based on this report then it would be a deeply flawed one.”

Sgt Helen Chapman, Ilkley Ward Sergeant, said temporary cameras installed for the Tour de Yorkshire were being used as a line of inquiry in a serious assault on Brook Street being investigated by Bradford detectives.

And Ilkley’s Labour MP John Grogan said: “I think there is a strong case for CCTV in Ilkley particularly given recent incidences of anti-social behaviour.”

Bradford Council’s executive committee meets at 10.30am on Tuesday, June 12, in City Hall.