MOBILE CCTV cameras could soon be positioned in a town centre park in a bid to deter vandals.

Darlington Borough Council was awarded a £3.9m lottery grant earlier this year to return the Victorian South Park to its former glory.

South Park has been targeted by vandals in recent months and there has been concern from visitors that any improvements would be ruined if security was not improved.

Now the council is considering installing mobile and covert cameras to catch young vandals in the act as well as increasing the number of warden and police patrols in the area.

A bid for more government money to pay for a warden on a motorbike has already been submitted. The warden would be used to respond quickly to any reports of vandalism or nuisance behaviour in South Park and other open areas in the town.

There have been a number of complaints in recent months of young people unlawfully riding motorbikes through green areas in the town and it is hoped the new warden would be able to tackle the problem.

Coun Bill Dixon, cabinet member for social services said: "We are looking into ways in which we can prevent a minority of people causing a nuisance in our parks and open spaces.

"We are not prepared to tolerate this sort of anti-social behaviour.

As well as catching people committing criminal damage in the parks, the town's wardens and the police can apply to the courts for an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) to stop people creating a nuisance. Anyone who breaks their ASBO agreement, which can ban them from a certain area or from committing a certain offence, can face up to five years in prison.

Coun Dixon said: "We are spending a lot of money to revamp South Park and we will not allow vandals to undo the good work of our staff to make this a pleasant place to be.