VANDALISM and the menace of rowdy teenagers in Otley could be stamped out with the introduction of closed-circuit security cameras.

In an effort to tackle anti-social behaviour, a £1,000 report has been commissioned into installing CCTV throughout the town centre.

In addition, schools will be brought on board in an attempt to get to the root cause of out of control teenagers.

Councillor Ryk Downes (Lib Dem, Otley and Yeadon) said the report, commissioned by the North West Area Management Team and due out early next month, would look at installing a system connected to one of Leeds City Council's monitoring stations.

Coun Downes, who is also pushing for CCTV cameras in Yeadon, said although crime was at a relatively low level in Otley, there was a high level of anti-social behaviour, including the recent graffiti attack on prominent buildings.

"Crime in the area has dropped dramatically, but the fear of crime is still there and people write to me saying they don't feel secure in the town centre and now we have later drinking hours, people feel they can't go out at night.

"It is not the perfect solution, but it does act as a deterrent and can help in identifying people.

"It would link directly into the council network monitoring station where there is a bank of television screens which are monitored continuously for anything suspicious. Police can be directed to the scene and they can also provide evidence," said Coun Downes.

He said a lot of the problem was small, low-level crime, particularly amongst groups of teenagers.

"It's the anti-social, niggly little things that get under people's skins. We also have incidents on market days and there are a lot of people who come into Otley on market days and we don't want to put them off coming."

Coun Downes said the aim was also to look at the root causes of anti-social behaviour by talking to young people.

"We will be trying to involve schools through the extended schools programme.

"When we talk to people about problems in Otley they say its because the youngsters are bored, they say its not their fault, but because they have nothing to do.

"If we don't provide them with things to do, we can't blame them if they get bored. The two things go hand in hand, so we want to address the needs of children, engage them at an early age and give them things to do."

He said if the report came back recommending that cameras could be installed, funding would be available.

"If we can identify and justify the need, we will then go and find the money. There will also be ongoing costs involved, but I think it is a price worth paying for Otley people's peace of mind."