More than £65,000 will be invested in upgrading Torfaen’s ten-year-old CCTV system after it was found seven of 24 cameras were not working.

AVA Security assessed the current CCTV equipment in the borough and found 14 cameras were of a poor quality and not fit for image evidence purposes.

Torfaen County Borough Council’s chief executive Alison Ward approved plans to upgrade CCTV cameras and infrastructure to be “evidence quality compliant”.

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This means they can be used by Gwent Police and other authorities in identifying crime.

This includes adding four CCTV cameras to the “very intimidating” civic centre car park, which is already the subject of a public spaces protection order (PSPO) due to complaints of anti-social behaviour and drug dealing.

The report says: “We have for many years been requested by staff to more actively monitor the car park which on occasions can be very intimidating as youths tend to congregate on different levels and there are reported issues of anti-social behaviour and drug dealing.

“The police patrol the civic car park and the community safety team work closely with the police to follow up reported cases.

“However, no action has been taken against any individuals as it has not been possible to identify offenders.

“Gwent Police have carried out a crime prevention survey and have suggested a number of possible options to address the anti-social behaviour and crime in the car park.

“CCTV monitoring is one of those measures suggested to address the issue.”

The cost of installing all the CCTV cameras and software is £65,500, while annual maintenance costs will be £13,150.

The cameras cover the community councils of Pontypool and Blaenavon and discussions had previously taken place to develop more of a partnership approach to the funding and maintenance, which the county borough council hopes to revive.