Councillors have asked for a briefing on CCTV cameras, so they are better able to inform the public on what Blaenau Gwent council is doing to keep them safe.

Concerns were raised in a Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council corporate overview scrutiny committee meeting that not enough was being done to make residents feel safe.

Cllr Malcolm Cross said: “We need to make the public feel safe in the town centre because right now it’s not as it should be.

“We need to possibly have an all members briefing to hear about where these cameras are and how successful they are.

“We really need to get these prosecutions highlighted and hopefully we will win back support from the public.”

The committee’s chairman Cllr Stewart Healy said: “It’s no good putting us in the picture if we are not telling the public the results.

“We need to be able to tell them there’s cameras there and we have had a prosecution there.

“They will feel safe because we are acting.”

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A report into CCTV cameras says the council received 42 requests for footage from July 30, 2019 to January this year.

Of these, 26 were from Gwent Police in relation to the prevention and detection of crime.

Footage has been shared with the police 16 times for incidents including serious violence and disorder, burglary, criminal damage, drink-driving and traffic incidents.

Cllr Joanna Wilkins asked whether there were plans for police to have direct access to the CCTV cameras.

The committee heard that the council is in ongoing discussions with Gwent Police and other shared resource service (SRS) partners, but a final decision has not yet been made.