CHIPPENHAM charity Borough Lands is hopeful that CCTV now installed at a car park in the town will stop senseless acts of vandalism.

The car park off Westmead Lane is owned by the charity and has been targeted five times over the past year with £2,000 spent on repairing the barrier leading in and out of the site.

Housing developer McCarthy & Stone, who is building along Westmead Lane, has offered to share CCTV facilities with the charity to try and deter any more damage.

Phil Tansley, CEO of Chippenham Borough Lands, said: “A big thanks to McCarthy & Stone who through partnership working have allowed us to link into their security system whilst they are on site building their new homes.

“This means the charity was able to overcome logistical problems in setting up the system and will hopefully mean that the vandalism will stop or the perpetrator will be caught as the system is linked to the police.

“This will also help in ensuring the safety of the people that use the car park at night.”

A spot in the 30-space car park is available to people working in the town on minimum wage for £10 a month as part of an initiative between Borough Lands and Chippenham BID, to help those who would otherwise struggle to pay for parking in the town centre.

Shane Paull, regional managing director for McCarthy & Stone, said: “We are invested in the communities in which we build, and where we can, will always offer to help local organisations and businesses, especially where this has a direct impact on the community and the people living there.

“We were aware of some of the security issues Chippenham Borough Lands was having at the car park close to our Westmead Lane construction site, so it made sense for us to coordinate with our security subcontractors and facilitate the connection of an additional camera on their behalf to our existing monitoring system overlooking the car park.

“We are now working closely with the charity and as a result we feel encouraged that the area as a whole should be made safer and more secure, especially for those people using that car park at night and for homeowners.”