TRADERS have reacted angrily to the news this week that Devizes will not be getting a CCTV scheme.

A petition has already been signed by more than 140 shop owners protesting at the decision.

The Kennet Community Safety Partnership decided not to go ahead with CCTV following the results of a public survey.

Only ten people from Devizes responded to the survey, which was published in the Gazette, and of those five were against CCTV while four were in favour.

The partnership had asked the town council to carry out the survey on its behalf but the town council refused because it did not like the way the survey was written and the way the questions were phrased.

Luke Quant, the manager of Jag Communications Limited in the Market Place, Devizes, this week presented a petition to Devizes Town Council.

He said: "I surveyed all the businesses in the town centre and all but three thought CCTV is vital. All businesses are concerned about crime and vandalism in the town and some are putting in their own systems."

At their meeting on Tuesday night town councillors said they supported the idea of installing CCTV but said it was the huge cost of providing it that was the stumbling block.

A study carried out for the partnership found it would cost £750,000 to install cameras in Devizes, Marlborough, Pewsey, Tidworth and Ludgershall and about £170,000 to run them each year.

The town councillors were disappointed with the low number of people involved in the Devizes survey and they decided to write to the partnership's CCTV working party to ask them to look at it again.

They are also going to invite Kevin James, Kennet District Council's lead officer on the partnership, to a future meeting of the town council to talk about it. The traders' petition will be sent on to the partnership.

Mr James told the Gazette that Kennet District Council had no money in its capital budget for the next three years to contribute towards a CCTV system.

He said: "It was a shame that we didn't get a bigger response from the public in Devizes but it didn't seem to capture the imagination.

"The response of people in Marlborough showed that they wanted CCTV to go ahead and the partnership will try and help Marlborough achieve its aims to secure funds, but in reality it will only happen if money is available from the Government or some other body."

In Marlborough the survey was carried out differently with townspeople surveyed in the High Street.

Of the 644 people who completed the survey, 592 people were in favour of CCTV and only 52 were against.

As a result of the support for CCTV in Marlborough, the partnership's working group decided that it would support a scheme for the town but has made it clear there is no funding to put in a system.

The working group has asked the police to investigate whether a mobile CCTV system for Kennet could be feasible.

This would involve a van installed with CCTV cameras parked in town with someone monitoring the system.

Chief Inspector Ian Hobbs, a member of the partnership, said: "It could be used to patrol the towns of Kennet. We could put it in Devizes on a Friday and Saturday when there are a lot of people out late at night.

"There are a lot of benefits to it. It would hopefully reduce crime and provide reassurance to people."