The debate over introducing CCTV to Marlborough High Street went to the full town council last week.

The town council has earmarked £20,000 for CCTV and the Chamber of Commerce has applied to the Marlborough Area Board for a further £5,000.

In January the town council adopted a 10,000-word report by Coun Nick Fogg calling for a deployable camera system.

But a report by town clerk Shelley Parker presented at Monday’s meeting outlined extra costs of deployable CCTV, including a £750 relocation charge for each move.

She also said the anti- social behaviour team at Wiltshire Council has deployable CCTV cameras that it lends out to crime hotspots.

Marlborough mayor Guy Loosmore said technology was improving all the time, bringing down prices and making it more cost-effective. But Coun Fogg argued the phrase cost effective was a misnomer and it was more important to find a system that worked.

Some councillors questioned the need for CCTV in the High Street in view of Marlborough’s low crime statistics.

But Coun Justin Cook, who owns a private hire firm, said: “I’ve seen some atrocious acts of violence over the last three years. You’re not out there at 2am on a Sunday, you don’t see it, you just see the lovely, quaint town in the morning and through the day.”

The town clerk will look into all options and a decision would be made when the council had seen fully detailed proposals.