PUBLIC pressure has forced a U-turn on plans for CCTV cameras in a market town.

Hambleton District Council is being advised to approve three fixed cameras in Bedale next week, at a cost of £90,000, but other communities are expected to lose out.

Although funding was allocated, an expected extension of CCTV to Bedale was shelved last year when councillors were forced to reconsider budgets after a council tax rise was capped.

In April, the cabinet agreed that once CCTV had been extended to the last of the five market towns within available budget limits, Great Ayton should be the first village to be considered subject to sufficient funding.

The cabinet was criticised at the time by councillors in Bedale for appearing to suggest that any extension could involve a choice between that town and Easingwold.

Bedale Town Council has insisted that CCTV is a vital tool in tackling long-running problems of vandalism and other anti-social behaviour. It was claimed last month that the situation in the town had "gone mad."

When updated budgets are considered on Tuesday, the cabinet will be told that Bedale should remain the priority for CCTV expansion, based on relative crime figures in each market town and Great Ayton.

Two cameras would cover Market Place and North End, the third being placed in the Bridge Street car park. The sites were chosen following public consultations last year.

Deputy mayor Councillor Wanda Reynolds welcomed the move, and said she hoped that if the cabinet gave approval, work would be done without delay.

She said: "People are endlessly rumbling about petty vandalism and criminal damage.

"There are pockets of destructive behaviour, particularly in the car park and sometimes in the market place, and we feel CCTV would be an effective deterrent."

Head of technical services at the council David McGloin concluded that, based on current statistics, CCTV cannot be justified at Easingwold or Great Ayton, despite anti-social behaviour in addition to crime.

He added that a proposal for an additional camera in Millgate, Thirsk, is not considered cost effective.